HTTYD My Way
by snow bunny rabbit
Summary: Hiccup and Scarlet have been best friends since childhood, but ever since Scarlet had been having scary nightmares. When they meet a certain dragon, will things ever be the same for these two? And what is it with those nightmares? One-sided Hiccup/OC
1. One Crazy Morning

**SUCCESS! I have finished re-writing the first chapter! Hooray for me! Let's see, what else needs re-writing?**

**I OWN ONLY SCARLET!**

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This is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. The village, in a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven long generations but every single building you see here is new. We have training, games, and a wonderful view of the sunrise. The only problems are the pests. See most places have rats or snakes, but no, out of all the dangerous things in the world, we just had to have dragons.

I was sleeping peacefully in my room on the comfort of my soft warm bed when a loud dragon's roar reached my ears, followed by the smell of burning wood. I jumped from my bed and looked out the window, the dragons were raiding us... again. Ever since long before I was born, the dragons kept raiding us every single month nonstop. The first time I saw one though, was when I was seven and a half years old.

"Scarlet!" yelled my mother, "Head to the basement, you'll be safe there."

"But mom what about you, dad, and..." Before I could continue, my father picked me up and ran towards the basement door.

"Scarlet," he said, "whatever you do, do not come out of this basement."

"But dad, I want to fight with you guys. I'm fourteen now, I think I can handle it." I said.

He shook his head. "No, and it's not because I don't want you to. I just want to keep you safe."

I gave him a pleading look. "But dad, even my own sister is out there. It's always been my dream to fight dragons."

"We know honey."said my mom, "But just not today."

I heaved a sigh. _That's what you always say. _"Fine. I'll stay." They smiled. "But it doesn't mean I have to like it. Good luck." They both nodded and ran out the door, mom with her spear and dad with his axe. I entered and shut the door behind me. I ran through the cluttered, dusty, cobwebbed filled room headed for a small window in the far corner of the basement.

You think most people would leave, but not us, we're vikings. We have stubbornness issues. My name is Scarlet, cute name I know, but other vikings have even more ridiculous names, thinking it'll ward off gnomes and trolls, as if our charming viking demeanor wouldn't do that.

"What are you doing here?"

"Get inside!"

"Why are you here?"

"Get back inside!"

I heard people yell, this could mean only one thing, Hiccup must have gotten out, again. The scrawny kid with the reddish-brown hair, yeah him. He and I have been best friends since I was like seven or so. Since then, all the kids made fun of us, but I got used to it. Between you and me, I think he's really cool. He makes these contraptions that no one has ever seen. He always shows them to me before anyone else. I do the same for him, not inventing though, but I do have a talent for art, I even have my own art studio in here.

Don't get me wrong, I'm into what everybody else does here too 'cause killing dragons is EVERYTHING around here. A Nadder head can get me at least noticed. Gronckles are tough, taking down one of those might get me a boyfriend, not that I have a crush on anyone at the moment though, just saying. Zipplebacks? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status. And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare, only the best vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire. But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one as ever seen before, we call it the...

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

**BOOM!**

A fire blast was shot towards a catapult tower, burning it to a crisp. The Night Fury is in fact the rarest and most feared of all dragon species. This thing never shows itself, never steals food, and never, and when I say never, I mean never ever misses it's target. Hiccup always talked about how he'll be the first to capture one, but unlike other people I actually listen. Why, just yesterday he made a bolas launcher for the next raid, which I have a feeling he's gonna use today, err, tonight? Well, you get the point.

I squinted to get a better look at all the action outside. I really wish I could join in, but sadly my parents are the type that care way too much about their children. But I just don't get it, my sister gets to do whatever she wants but I have to be the one who is always treated like a baby? That is totally unfair! It's really embarrassing, like yesterday when I was raking the leaves in the front yard. When my mom came outside, she gave me a protective hug and started talking a bunch of nonsense like, "How many times do I have to tell you to always wear a coat when you go outside?" or, "Be careful you could cut yourself." and every kid in the village burst out laughing. Cut myself? With what? A tiny leaf?

My dad is a bit different though, he taught me how to sword fight... with a wooden one, but my mother worried I would get a splinter. He also taught me how to use a bow and arrow, and my mom put me in protective gear! Seriously! It's as if I'm made of crystal or something.

My sister is the complete opposite, she really doesn't care if I get a bruise or a tiny scratch. Once when I cut my cheek a little while sword fighting with her, behind our parents's back, all she said was: "Eh, it'll heal." And of course mom was panicking. Sure they worry but hey, you gotta love 'em. At least they allowed Hiccup to be my friend. One of these days I will get out there and slay a dragon, I just know it.

I saw the group carrying water buckets to put out the hot flames, the huge looking boy with the tiny helmet is Fishlegs, the shorter one with the muscles is Snotlout, the blond twins fighting for the water bucket are Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and the blonde girl with the spiked red skirt, and I'm afraid my worst nightmare, Astrid, the most popular girl in Berk. Most guys drool over her and always make any attempts to go out with her, and Hiccup I'm afraid is one of those guys. Unlike other girls, she's the toughest and prettiest, and also very hard to please.

There was a sudden scream. _Funny,_ I thought, _it doesn't sound human. It's way too high-pitched. _There was a short pause and then another scream, and a boyish one at that. I looked closer to see burning buildings, running vikings, a flaming Monstrous Nightmare chasing Hiccup, wait, what? _Oh no! Hiccup!_

He hid behind a fire pole, only to make the enraged dragon burn the pole with it's magma like fire. I really wanted to help him but Stoick got ahead and started punching the beast. After having enough, it flew away with the rest of the dragons who sadly managed to steal some sheep and our food rations. The fire pole slowly started tipping over, the flame lit at the top went rolling down a hill, crushing and/or burning a few houses. A large group of people blocked my view of whatever was happening now. With a sigh, I tore my gaze away from it and walked towards a blank canvas that was perched on the corner of the room. I picked up a little wooden chair and a pencil and started drawing.

I always had the sudden urge to draw when I got bored, sometimes I draw places, like forests or the village on a winter day, other times I draw people, like my family or just me and my sister. But I draw mostly are dragons, I don't know why but something about them that catch my attention. I never show them to anyone,not even my family somehow knowing that they wouldn't aprove. In the darkest corner of the room, that's where I keep them far away from anyone to see. There is only one dragon that had captured my attention, but I don't think it even exists. I only saw it in my dreams. It was really scary to even look at, gigantic in size and a moldy blue colored. It had these little red horns that went from it's paws to it's neck. I wasn't even sure if it was a dragon.

_Now for paint, let's see._ I looked around for my paint tubes, I picked a grassy green one, a dark brown one, and a red one. I started painting the drawing, making sure not to miss any important details. After I was done, there was the squeaking sound of a door. "Scarlet?" I heard the deep voice of my father call.

"I'm still here." I said. I went up the stairs to greet my loving family, leaving behind a little freshly painted portrait of Hiccup on the way. What? I can't make a portrait of my friend?

"Mom, dad, you're okay." I said, giving them a big hug. I they might fuss over me a lot, but they're my family and I love them.

"Oh, honey," said my mother, "Are you alright?"

"Better now that you're here." I said.

"Well then now that the sun is up and out, why don't you go upstairs and get ready? Breakfast will be ready shortly."

I ran upstairs to my room, which thankfully was still intact. My room is pretty simple to say the least. A bed big enough for me next to the arched window, a small wooden nightstand next to it, and a little closet on the opposite wall. You see, our house had only one upstairs bedroom for me and my sister, but she wanted to build a wall in between. Yeah, she never learned to share.

I opened my closet. _Hm, what to wear today? _I took out a purple sweater then put it back in_. Nah. _Next, I took out a long forest green dress with a big blue bow on the back. _Nope, too girly. _

I was pretty surprised of what I found next, a sheep costume._ Where the heck did this come from? _

I finally took out a simple, indigo blue shirt._ Perfect. _

I took out a pair of chocolate brown leggings._ Now where's my coat? _I looked through the closet in search of my fur coat, throwing clothes all over the once clean room in the process. I looked through the drawers, still nothing. Under my bed, nada. _Okay, so no coat today_. I brushed and pulled my dark brown hair into a messy ponytail. It was pretty strange that I was the only one with brown hair and blond highlights, cause my dad's hair is red and my mom's hair is blonde.

I slipped on my boots and put the scattered clothes back to the closet. Okay stuffed them in, but like it matters. I was having a little trouble closing the door so I picked up a little chair to prevent the clothing avalanche that hopefully would never happen. I felt my stomach grumble a little, man I'm hungry. Since I had absolutely nothing else to do, I just plopped down on my bed just staring at the ceiling... which was absolutely boring! I rested my head on my pillow.

_I found myself outside in the village, some dragons were flying around, buildings were still burning, and vikings running around like crazy with their weapons. _

_'__Huh? How did I get here? Didn't the dragons already leave?' I heard steps, and a terrible squeaking sound. I saw a boy with reddish-brown hair, only a slight inch taller than me running with a wheel barrow. I looked closer to see that the running figure was..._

"_Hiccup!" __I called, he didn't seem to hear me though. "Hey, Hiccup! Hello? Over here!" He still didn't look fazed. I frowned. 'What's with him?'_

_ I saw him run to a little clearing slightly distant from the rest of the village, and I, of course, wanted to follow, feeling curiosity creeping up inside me. He stopped. The top of the wheel barrow suddenly burst open, and out came a complicated looking piece of machinery. He was done readying the object. The bolas launcher!_

"_Come on. Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at." He muttered looking at the night sky._

"_Hiccup what are you... wha?" I touched his shoulder only to find my arm going through him. I tried again, then I tried grabbing him but my arms kept going through him. 'Okay this is officially freaky.' _

_I looked up trying to see exactly what he was looking at only to to see tiny stars decorating the midnight blue sky with their beautiful soft glow. What exactly was he waiting for? I squinted my eyes to get a better look, still nothing but... huh? Was that a shadow? There was a small screeching sound coming from above, but I couldn't see exactly what it was. The screeching suddenly got louder, and louder, until.._

_**BOOM!**_

_The catapult tower in front of us suddenly burst on fire, followed by a dragon silhouette flying right over the flaming light. The Night Fury. _

_**CLICK!** Hiccup hit the trigger and the machine launched the bolas, the force of the launcher suddenly threw him off balance and fell backwards on the slightly soft green grass. There was a high-pitched scream, the same scream I had heard earlier. I turned my head to see the dark silhouette falling towards Raven Point, a forest where vikings sometimes go hunting._

_I couldn't believe it, he did it. He actually did it! Yes it worked!_

"_I hit it. YES I HIT IT!" he cheered. "Did anybody see that?" _

_'Me! I did! I did!' I thought happily._

_There was a sickening sound of crunching wood followed by a growl. We turned around to find a huge orange dragon with sharp teeth sticking out of it's lower jaw, and long horns on it's head. The Monstrous Nightmare, and it didn't look happy. _

_"Except for you." He muttered looking like all hope was suddenly drained out of him. _

_I felt the instinct to run and hide, but I couldn't move my legs. It was like someone had super glued my feet to the ground. I tried again, struggling for freedom; I still couldn't move. The giant dragon roared and charged at him, and he ran off screaming his lungs out towards the village. It didn't seem to notice me though, because when it ran after him the dragon literally went right through me. Okay, I stand corrected, THAT was really freaky. _

_The whole scene changed into a black void of nothingness in front of my eyes. Wow, that was weird. There was a distant sound, it sounded like someone was speaking though I couldn't quite comprehend what it was saying. Like a voice speaking some other language._

"!_" I wonder what is she trying to say.__"Saret! Scarlet!" _

_'Wait mom? Where is she? Wait a minute... am I sleeping? Heh, Last thing I remembered was resting my head on my pillow. Maybe I was still tired and fell asleep, I wonder if...'_

_I pinched my shoulder, I felt nothing, not even a little sting. 'I am asleep!'_

_"Scarlet!" she called again. _

_"Coming!" I answered, but I doubt she heard me. I read somewhere that when a person was talking in his or her dream, their vocal cords didn't actually work in real life. Yeah reading is another hobby of mine._

_'Okay, now how do I wake up? Think, think... that's it!' I shut my eyes closed and kept them like that. Please work, please work, please work, please work._

I opened my eyes to find myself in my room. I can't believe that worked, maybe I should listen to Fishlegs more often. He's practically the only viking who absolutely loves to read. Even though he wasn't technically our friend he would talk to anyone to share his knowledge even if it means talking to either Hiccup or me.

"Hey Scarlet, mom's calling." I froze. I knew that voice anywhere, it was the smooth yet bittersweet voice of my older sister. Oh, and I forgot one tiny little detail.

"Hey Astrid." I said in a small voice. She just sighed and walked away. Yep, the most popular girl in Berk is my sister, shocker ain't it? Let the usually weird morning begin!

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**Once again, thank you for faving my story guys, tootles! :D**


	2. Flashbacks, and a surprise

**Look! Here's chapter two! :D**

**I don't own HTTYD, only Scarlet!**

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Breakfast is mostly uneventful when you live in the Hofferson residence, but being the nice girl I am, I decided to strike up a conversation. "So, how was last night?" I asked.

Dad seemed to jump slightly, mainly because he was used to the silence in the room. "Worse than last time, they managed to steal most of our food rations and half of the sheep." He said, I just grimaced. _That's a lot of food_. "First raids, stealing food," he continued while I took a sip of my yak milk, "and now that Hiccup friend of yours starts blabbering about shooting down a Night Fury."

"PBBBFFFFT!" Out of surprise I choked on the milk and spit it out. Did he just say what I thought he said?

"Oh darling, are you alright?" asked my mother patting me on my back. "Yes mom I'm fine." I said. "What do you mean he shot down a Night Fury?"

"Well that's what he said he did." said Astrid while studying her battle axe, not really interested on the meal on her plate.

"What? You mean you don't believe him?" I asked.

"If I see it then I will. Why? Do you?" she asked. Yep that's Astrid, being her stubborn self. She won't believe what anyone tells her unless they have proof, including me.

Truth be told I didn't know if it was true or not; but if I wanted the truth, I would have to get it from Hiccup himself.

"Can I please be excused? I'm not really that hungry." I said. Not really waiting for an answer, I ran outside in search of my best friend. Since my coat had mysteriously disappeared, I had to use my cloak. It was even colder than yesterday. The first place I could think of going was the Blacksmith shop where Gobber was hammering a sword. Hiccup was had always marveled his work, ever since, he had been his apprentice since he was little, well littler anyway. I tried my best to ignore the loud clanking noises the tool made when it made contact with the red hot weapon.

"Morning Gobber." I greeted.

"Eh? Oh, good morning lassie." He said with a smile, momentarily tearing his eyes away from his work. Aside from being the best blacksmith in the village, Gobber is known for being a smart and strong fighter. Don't let the prosthetics fool you though, he is capable of taking care of himself.

"Gobber, have you seen Hiccup by any chance?" I asked.

"Back at the house, I don't think he's coming back out for a long time." He answered smirking slightly.

I just rolled my eyes. "Let me guess, either he's grounded or you locked the door?" I snickered at that last part.

"A little of both." He dipped the weapon in the water barrel to cool down the hot metal. After that, he put it aside on a nearby table and switched the hammer where his hand was supposed to be to a wooden mug. "Well, my shift's up. Anything else you need?"

"Thanks but no thanks." I said politely, "I'll see you later." I wasn't really in a hurry so I walked the rest of the way towards the little hill where the chief of the village lives.

I mentally smirked. _I think you forgot to lock the back door. _If there's one thing I know about Hiccup, is that he can be a bit sneaky. I bet he would either use the back door or try to pick the lock. But just in case, I headed towards the house and knocked when I reached the wooden front door. "Hiccup, are you there? It's me, Scarlet." No answer. I knocked again louder this time. "Hello? Hiccup?" Again, no answer. I tried to open the door to find that it was still locked. _Yep, back door it is._

I went to the back to see the back door open and a few footprints, they were still a few minutes fresh. _I knew it. _I decided to follow the prints, completely ignoring the fact that I was headed towards Raven Point.

_Brr, it's even colder than before. _I clutched the cloak around my body for warmth. I remember the last time I was here, the mood wasn't as scary as now. Speaking of last time, how would you like to know how Hiccup and I met? Well, I'll tell you. You see it was a long time ago, early in the afternoon...

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A little girl was walking through the forest, hungry to explore more of life outside of the village. At every step, the environment looked somewhat eerie; the air seemed mistier, her surroundings looked a bit darker, the tall pine trees looked thicker and thicker than usual. But she didn't pay any attention to that, she just kept walking as if it was perfectly normal for a seven year old to walk through the densest part of the woods. A small bluebird perched on a nearby tree branch chirped a happy little song. The little girl smiled at the bird's performance, it sounded so beautiful.

_Snap!_

The sound of a breaking twig caused the little bird to fly away in fear. The girl looked around trying to find the source of the sound, she saw nothing but trees, bushes, some rocks lying around. _Maybe it's just a rabbit. _she thought.

_Snap!_

There it was again, even closer than before. _Please be a rabbit, or a deer, maybe a little squirrel. _She nervously fiddled with her left pigtail, hoping that it was a small animal and not a giant monster ready to eat her in one bite. _What am I? Four? There's no such thing as monsters... right?_

_Snap!_

This time it sounded like whatever it was, was right in front of her. That was all it took to send her running, running as fast as her little legs could carry her. Her heart beating rapidly against her chest, fear was the only thing that surrounded her mind. She yelped when she tripped on a rock causing her to fall face-first on the ground. She felt a sting on her right knee, and turned to find her legging scraped and covered in dirt.

"Aw, great." she muttered sarcastically, blowing her bangs away from her eyes. The bushes in front of her started shaking and rustling. She shut her eyes closed waiting for whatever it is to jump out and eat her.

"Hey, you're not a troll." said a voice.

"Huh?" In front of her was a little boy with reddish-brown hair and green eyes holding a very big net. "Of course I'm not a troll, what made you think that?" she asked.

"I heard a noise and when I got closer I heard running." he said, looking a bit sheepish. It was then when he got a good look at her knee. "What happened to your knee?"

"I fell." she answered simply, trying to ignore the stinging sensation. "Why were you hunting for trolls?"

The boy shrugged. "It's fun. I know, weird right?"

The girl shook her head. "No, it actually does sound fun."

"R-really? You don't find it strange." he asked incredulous.

"A bit, but it's better than doing nothing." she slowly stood up and walked closer to him, noticing that he had freckles sprayed across his face. "Can I play too?"

"If you want to, I guess." he said. "I'm not really used to people playing with me."

The girl looked confused for a moment. "Why not? Don't you have any friends?"

The boy looked sadly at the ground, he didn't answer.

"Oh, well if it's okay with you, I can be your friend." she said.

"Really?" he asked, surprised by her generous offer. "You will?"

"Of course I will," she assured, "To tell you the truth, I don't have any friends either."

"Why?"

"Because they think I'm a freak, that's why." she said bitterly, crossing her arms, not meeting his gaze.

"I don't think you're a freak. Why would you think that?" he asked.

"It's not just me, it's everybody else. First of all they think my hair is strange," she gestured to her brown hair with blond highlights, "but that's not what bothers me. It's my eyes."

"What about them?"

The girl sighed. "See for yourself." She lifted her bangs to reveal scarlet red irises. "I don't know how, but I was born with them like that."

"I don't think they're weird," he said, "They look sort of pretty."

The girl looked surprised. "You really think so?"

"Y-yeah." he stuttered, a hint of red visible on his face. The girl just giggled. "M-my name is Hiccup."

"I'm Scarlet." she said shaking his hand. "So, did you come here alone or are your parents somewhere nearby?"

Hiccup had a horrified look on his face. "Oh no! I'm not supposed to be far away from my dad, he's gonna kill me! I gotta go."

"Can I come too? I don't have anything else to do." asked Scarlet.

"Sure, you seem nice enough I think dad will like you. And maybe do something about your knee." he said. He grabbed hold of her arm and practically dragged her through the forest.

"OKAAAYYY!"

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And so we been friends ever since that day, and of course Hiccup got grounded for 'ditching' their father/son fishing trip. So now you know why my name is Scarlet. Ever since I was born, my eyes were the most peculiar shade of scarlet, they thought it would go away as I grew old but it never did. I really don't know how or why it happened so don't ask.

The footprints I had been following were blending in with the ground until they disappeared. Perfect, just perfect. Now how am I supposed find him? Well either I could:

a) Keep going just in case something bad happened and take him back to the village.

b) Go back and wait for him to return.

c) Go back home, lie on my bed, and forget this whole thing ever happened.

I'm not the kind of person that backs down so I went with plan a). After a long while I found myself walking down a hill. "Ugh. Where could he possibly be? It's gonna take me forever to find him." I said to myself. This was really getting annoying he could be anywhere in this forest. I slapped away a branch in front of me, taking out my frustration on it. I really should have seen it coming.

_Thwak!_

"Ow!" The branch had slapped my face, hard! "Hey! Why you... huh?" I was prepared to rip it off and break it into pieces when I got a good look at the tree. It was snapped in half, one side firmly on the ground, while the other half that had the upper part knocked down, as if something had crashed through here. "Whoa. I wonder what-"

**RRRRAAAAAARRRRR!**

My heart leapt up to my throat as I heard the scariest sound I had never in my entire life heard before. I hid behind the tree and peeked out expecting to see the creature that made that horrifying sound. Nothing. "What in Odin's name was that?" There were nothing but trees, rocks, grass, mist...

Wait a second! There, in the mist! A dark shadow flew through the light grey fog, it's wingspan was larger than any dragon's, if I didn't know any better I'd say it looked like an over-sized bat with an unusually large tail. It crashed into a tree as it flew away, then another, and another, and another. _Is it just me or is that dragon clumsier than a Gronkle?_ Well whatever that thing was it's long gone now. _Now, what was I doing? Oh yeah! Find Hiccup._

I came out from my hiding spot and carefully walked down the dirt road, I climbed over the little hill. However, what I saw next made my blood freeze. Figuratively of course, otherwise I would have died.

"HICCUP!" I ran towards him, and knelt down next to him. He was out cold lying on the ground. I checked for any signs of injuries, so far none. I checked his pulse. _Oh, thank the gods he's still alive!_

Something shiny caught my interest. It was a bolas, but it looked like the ropers were cut. How? Next to him was his dagger, I knew it was his because of the initials carved on the hilt. _Wait, did he...? No, he wouldn't. But what if he did? Did he actually let it go? _Oh great, more questions that needed to be answered.

My mind was still focused on Hiccup. _I hope he wakes up soon, at least he's okay. _I took off my cloak and placed it on top of him, he needed it more than I did. I stroked his hair, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. His locks felt as soft as a pillow. He looked so peaceful with his eyes closed, like he was dreaming.

_What am I doing? Where is all this coming from? _I shook my head to stop whatever I was doing. What just happened? What is wrong with me? _I must really be worried._

With a grunt, I slid my hands under his arms and put him into a standing position. Wow, for a skinny boy he sure is heavy. I put my arm on his side and put his over my shoulder. This is gonna be a long walk home.

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**Okay, I fixed some stuff. Yay!**


	3. Conversations

**I don't own anything, you know the rest...**

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We finally made it back to my house, which wasn't easy as you would think. I didn't know if it was my imagination or not, but did he gain weight on the way here?. _Man he's heavy. _We managed to come back to my house after wandering around for Thor knows how long.

Just when I was about to open the door when it suddenly opened to reveal a slightly surprised Astrid standing on the other side with her axe, probably to go practice like she always does.

"Do I want to know?" she asked looking suspiciously at the unconscious Hiccup next to me.

I shook my head. "No, you don't. A little help?"

The blonde just muttered a "Fine" and proceeded to help.

"Okay, you grab his legs and I'll grab his head." I instructed. Rolling her eyes, she did so.

"Where do you want him?" she asked.

"On the couch. Gently now." We placed him on the living-room soft fur couch, careful not to do any damage to him. "Thanks." I muttered. I noticed that it was uncomfortably quiet right now, like something was missing. "Hey, where are mom and dad?" I adjusted the cloak for it to act a a blanket on Hiccup.

"On their way from the council hall, Chief Stoick ordered a special meeting about finding the dragons' nest." she said simply.

"Again? This is, like, the twelfth time this year." I whined, how long are we supposed to keep this up? Ever since a...erm... particular raid, the chief had been planning nonstop on finding the nest to destroy it. They do this every month. The more people they send, the less they come back. It's very sad really. Sometimes I really dislike us vikings having stubbornness issues, and sometimes I don't since they rarely come in handy.

"Scarlet, you know how Stoick is. We were born for this kind of stuff. Besides, it's actually a good thing."

"And exactly why is that a good thing for you?" I asked, did she actually like the idea of people sacrificing their lives for only one command?

"Wait, you mean you didn't hear?" she asked.

"Hear what?"

"They're pulling men to crew the ships."

"And you're happy because you like to wave goodbye?" _Really Scarlet? How much dumber can you get?_

"No stupid. They need replacements to defend the town. We start training in the morning, we'll be fighting dragons!"

"You mean you'll be fighting dragons. You know mom and dad, they would never allow me to do something like this." I stated the obvious. "Besides, even if they did I will get kicked out on the first day."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. I mean just look at the friends you have, Fishlegs has his intelligence, Snotlout has his strength, Ruff and Tuff? They have their ways, and you, well, you have all of the above! What am I? The opposite of all that. Look at me, I'm scrawny, I can barely lift a sword, and I'm not incredibly athletic as you are. Even if I do want to train with you guys, I'd have to be like all of you just to survive."

"Look, I see your point. But if you want, I'll talk to mom and dad for you." she offered.

"Really? You would do that?" One word: UNBELIEVABLE! She rarely does something nice for anyone. Right now she was smiling, not her usual signature smile, this one seemed like a kind smile that a sister would give to her sibling.

"Of course I would. I always heard you talk about being a dragon-slayer, and you are my little sister. It's nice to see you wanting to be part of the family business. And toughen up, you're softer than a pillow."

I'll let that comment pass... for now. "Wow, thanks sis." _Man, I never thought I'd say that._

"You're welcome," now she had that cold look back on her face, "But tell anyone about this conversation, and you're dead."

"What conversation?" I played with a smirk.

"Good. See ya." She picked up her axe and exited the house.

_Don't worry sis, you have my word. _I sat down on the floor on the disturbing, but comfortable bear rug. It was quite rare for Astrid to act like this, it felt so different, in a good way.

My attention came back fully towards Hiccup, who was still out cold. _Please wake up. _I mean, what if my parents suddenly barge in and see my best friend unconscious on the couch? What am I supposed to say? "Hey mom, hey dad. I found Hiccup in the woods like that because a giant dragon made him faint." See? It even sounds crazy to me when I say it.

Wait a minute, the dragon. The one from the woods, I've never seen something like that before, yet it seemed so familiar somehow.

_(Flashback)_

_Something shiny caught my interest. It was a bolas, but it looked like the ropes were cut._

_(Flashback over)_

The bolas, why does it ring a bell? Unless... no.

_(Dream flashback)_

_The catapult in front of us suddenly burst on fire, followed by a dragon silhouette flying over the flaming light._

_CLICK! Hiccup hit the trigger and the machine launched the bolas._

_I turned my head to see a dark silhouette falling towards Raven Point._

_(Dream flashback over)_

No. No, no, no, no, no, no. T-that's impossible, it was a dream! Just a dream! Dreams are not supposed to be real! What's going on? Okay Scarlet, calm down. I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for this.

"..."

Okay, I got nothing. Well this is just dandy, the freakiest thing just happened to me and I have absolutely no idea how! Hold on, maybe, no. Or what if..? Nah! Okay, this may sound crazy but I think it could be a vision. Ha! Yep, I'm crazy. But then again...

"Ugh."

What the..? Oh, he's waking up! Act natural. I sat down on a little wooden chair next to him, resting my head on my hand with a slightly bored expression on my face. With a groan, he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. "Where am I?"

"Hi." I said. He jumped a little, probably not expecting to see me.

"Oh, hey Scarlet," he greeted, "How did I get here?"

"I went looking for you a couple of hours ago. I wanted to talk to you about something but when I got to your house you weren't there. The front door was locked, so I figured you went through the back door and found your footprints. I ended up at Raven Point and heard a roar, then there was this huge black dragon flying away and before I knew it, I found you knocked out on the ground."

"Wow, time flies when you're unconscious." he half-joked.

"Hiccup, what happened?" I asked. "Did that thing do something to you?"

At first he looked unsure to answer. "You wouldn't believe me. No one did when I told everyone I shot down a Night Fury, not even my own father. What makes me so sure you will?"

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hiccup, I'm your best friend. You know you can tell me anything. Try me."

* * *

"...and then it just flew away." he finished.

I was awestruck, my mouth hanging open. It wasn't that I didn't believe him, it's just what happened sounded unbelievable. Get it? Sounded. Major difference. I knew there was something familiar about that dragon, no, Night Fury. Hm, I've always wondered what it looked like. My fingers were practically twitching to draw the new creature. I've always wanted to paint a Night Fury. Outside, I kept myself calm. Yet on the inside, I felt like this:

_OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! HICCUP SAW A NIGHT FURY! MY BEST FRIEND IS THE FIRST VIKING EVER IN HISTORY TO SEE A NIGHT FURY!_

"So, it just let you go?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I thought for sure it was gonna kill me."

Wow, that was unexpected. I wonder what made it change it's mind. "Where do you think it is now?"

"Hopefully somewhere as far away as possible from the village." he said.

"I see." To tell you the truth, I wanted to see it again. If I could get even the slightest glimpse of it again, I could do a sketch or a little portrait. It sounded so fascinating.

Wait, how long have we been talking? I glanced to a small window on my right. The sky had beautiful shades pinks, oranges, and purples painted as the sun slowly began descending. _Hm, I should paint a sunset sometime, it's so pretty._

"Well I'd better get going," he stood up, "I bet dad is either waiting at home or throwing spears at the wall."

"Aw, poor wall. What did it ever do to him?" I joked earning an amused chuckle from him. "Oh, wait."

"What?"

My hand moved towards my belt and took out a small knife. "I believe this is yours."

"My dagger, thanks." he said taking the weapon.

I smiled. "You're welcome. Say hi to your dad for me."

"I will." and he left through the wooden door without another word.

_..._

**(Later that night)**

I was at my usual spot in the basement, this time I was trying to draw a Monstrous Nightmare which is extremely hard! I couldn't get anything right! Either I messed up the pattern on it's scales, or the strange-looking spikes on it's back.

_Jeez! Why can't I get this right? _I thought angrily as I ripped the paper and crumpled it into a ball. This time I had messed up the horns on it's head, they looked more like jagged sticks, and the wings? They looked like flower petals. I tried so many times to draw this thing, and none of them came out right! This is really frustrating. _Maybe I should call it quits for tonight. _With a groan I stood up and walked upstairs to the kitchen where the entrance to the basement was.

"Scarlet!" My dad called. He sounded close, maybe he's in the living room.

"Yeah dad?" _What did I do? Am I in trouble? Aw no, did Astrid tell them about Hiccup?_

"Could you come over here?"

I obediently did so. I walked pass the hallway and made my way to the main room. Mom and dad sat next to each other, they looked a tad nervous. I sat down on the wooden chair in front of them. My mom was the first to speak.

"Honey, there is something that we need to tell you."

"Um, okay." I sorta felt a bit uneasy at her serious tone.

"Well, it's really hard for me to say this, but your mother and I are going away for awhile." said dad.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"We volunteered to help Stoick find the nest, we leave tomorrow morning."

"Oh, so while you two go on a life-threatening mission, me and Astrid stay here with the house to ourselves and she goes to dragon training while I stay here with my drawings?"

"Now now, no need to complain," soothed my mother, "Astrid isn't the only one who is going to dragon training. You will too."

"No I'm serious! You always get to- wait what?" Did I hear correctly or am I still asleep?

"Well we've been talking, and you are right. You are old enough and you should learn how to defend yourself against those horrible beasts. But remember, be careful, your sister will help you if you ever get into trouble."

"Eeeeep! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I said giving them both a big hug. _I'M GOING TO DRAGON TRAINING! _Three words: Best Day Ever! "Ahem, I mean thanks. I promise to do my best." I said keeping my happiness under control, but inside I was practically bursting with excitement. They smiled.

"We know you will. Now off to bed, you'd better sleep early if you want to make it to training tomorrow."

"Okay, good night. I love you." I called as I walked upstairs.

"We love you too." They said.

I ran upstairs at full speed, however instead of running to my room I went over to my sister's room and knocked on the door. She opened the door letting a smirk take form on her face at my happy look.

"Let me guess, they're letting you do it?"

"Yep. I guess I'll be seeing you at the ring tomorrow morning." I said.

"Good." she said checking her nails.

"How did you manage to convince them?" I asked, my parents were really difficult to convince, how did she do it?

"I haven't talked to them yet."

Wait, WHAT?! She didn't? "Wait, what?"

"Are you deaf? I said I didn't talk to them yet."

"I heard you before you know," I muttered, "But if you didn't talk to them then how come they-"

"How should I know?" she interrupted, "They just decided to let you join, okay? G'night." Without another word she closed the door on my face.

_Well that was rude. Just like Astrid. _I just shrugged and walked towards my room.

I changed into a white night gown and loosened my ponytail, letting my highlighted hair cascade to my mid back, and lastly laid on my bed, ready for a good night sleep. I pulled the covers to my neck. _Hmm, cozy. _

At first I was excited. _I'm going to dragon training!_

Then I thought a bit more deeply about it. _I'm going to dragon training._

Then I panicked. _I'm going to dragon training! What if the first dragon that comes out manages to eat me?_

_Oh for the love of Odin! Snap out of it! You're gonna do fine, just relax. _Yeah, relax. That's exactly what I'm gonna do. _That's exactly what I should be doing. No worries... but just in case._

I put my hand under my pillow to feel something soft and fluffy. I pulled it out to reveal a snowy white rabbit doll with two black buttons for eyes, and a pink button in the middle for the nose. Mr. Fluff. Don't you laugh at me, some people sleep with stuffed animals, especially when that stuffed animal just might be your first toy.

"Hey Mr. Fluff," Cheesy name I know, "Guess what? Mom and dad actually allowed me to attend dragon training tomorrow."

**"Really?" **I said in a deep voice while wiggling the little toy to make it look like it was the one talking, **"That's great news!"**

"Yeah but..."

**"But what?"**

"I'm a little nervous."

**"That's okay, everyone feels nervous when they try out something new. Even pretty vikings like you."**

I giggled. "Aw thanks. Do you think that I'm gonna be a dragon-slayer like my parents?"

**"Of couse you will, both you and Hiccup will be the best dragon-slayers in Berk."**

"Yeah, we're a team!"

**"That's the spirit! Just keep trying though, you'll do fine."**

"We will!

...

Okay, now I feel stupid pretending that my stuffed animal can talk." I muttered to myself. Before I knew it, I fell fast asleep.

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**I honestly ran out of things to say...heh.**


	4. Dragon Training

**Wow! That many reviews already? Yay, I'd like to thank all of those who reviewed my last chapter. You really made me happy.**

**Disclaimer: Uh, no. TT_TT**

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The long awaited day finally came, we made it to the docks just in time. Many viking children were hugging their parents goodbye, others were begging them not to go, and some were crying. It wasn't easy for me either, even though my parents tend to worry a lot, I still love them because I know they're just trying to protect me, even if it gets annoying most of the time.

"Astrid, Scarlet. If something happens on the trip, we just want you to know that we love you both." said my dad, sadness clearly visible in his blue eyes.

"Please don't say that dad. I know you two will come back." I said. _Don't cry, don't cry. Be a viking._

My mother smiled. "We will miss you both." She picked us up and gave us a bone-crushing hug. Did I forget to mention that mom is a really strong hugger?

"Mom... can't... breathe... need... air." I choked out, my lungs were practically screaming. She might not be as big as the other viking women in the village, but her grip was a strong as a large snake squeezing the air out of it's prey. I could have sworn my face was turning purple.

"What... she... said." choked Astrid.

"Sorry." she apologized, and finally let us go.

I inhaled as much air as my lungs could let in, air had never felt so good before. "We'll miss you too. Right Astrid?"

"That's right." she said putting her arm on my shoulder, smiling.

"Good, now you two behave and don't throw any house parties. Is that clear?"

"Yes mother." we both said.

"Good."

"Scarlet, there is something I've been meaning to give you." said dad handing me a large object wrapped in paper.

"Wow, thanks." I said.

"Well what are you waiting for? Open it." said my sister, sounding a bit eager.

I was curious too so I ripped it open. The bottom was covered in leather, and on the top was something that looked like a handle. The handle felt cool to the touch, it was a bit loose so I figured that it was something that was supposed to be pulled, so I did. Never in my life I ever thought I'd be getting this. A sword!

"Oh my gods! Thanks dad. Thank you so much." I said.

"You're welcome, be careful with it."

"I will." I promised.

"All aboard!" shouted a viking, signaling that it was almost time to leave.

_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry._"Well, I guess it's time for you to go." I said sadly.

"Train hard, both of you. We love you." said mom.

"We love you too." we both said, only my tone was a little sadder.

Before we knew it they had sailed away from Berk towards the vast ocean of nothingness. As soon as they were gone, Astrid yanked her arm away from my shoulder. I took a look at my sword, the metal was so shiny that some sunlight bounced off of it, it looked so polished that I could see my sad reflection. _I'll do my best. I promise._

A red glint caught my interest, at the bottom of the hilt was a scarlet red ruby. _Huh, maybe that's why my dad got me this one. _Red is my favorite color.

"Come on Scarlet," said Astrid, "time for training."

"Okay." I said. _This is it Scarlet, today's the big day. _I took a deep breath and followed her.

* * *

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" boomed Gobber as he lifted the gate to reveal a huge arena.

Astrid had a determined look on her face, unlike me who was standing in the rear of the group trying to hide in the shadows. "No turning back." Her voice full of confidence.

To me, the ring looked like a big rocky sink-hole with five metal doors, and a chain dome, probably to keep the dragons from flying out.

_I can do this. I can do this. _I chanted in my mind, trying to make myself more confident... which wasn't really working!

"I hope to get some serious burns." said Tuffnut sounding eager to get an injury.

"I'm hoping for some mauling. Like, on the shoulder or lower back." said the female twin, Ruffnut.

I shuddered. _Or something worse, like becoming ashes, or being eaten alive! What's wrong with me? Where is that eager Scarlet from before? Toughen up will ya? _I nodded and took a deep breath, relaxing myself a bit.

"Yeah," agreed my sister, "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

"Yeah no kidding right?" Wait a sec. I'd know that voice anywhere. "Pain, love it." _Sarcastic, a bit depressing. Hiccup!_

I smiled, knowing that my best friend was with me again. Oddly enough I didn't feel so scared anymore. I felt better. At least I'm not alone on this.

"Aw great, who let them in?" whined Tuffnut, absolutely not happy to see us.

"Let's get started!" anounced our teacher, "The recruit who does best, will get the honor of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him or..?" commented Snotlout. _How wrong you are._

"No, it means you get to shut your mouth." _Oh gods did I just say that?_

"You're one to talk _Red_." he spat the name, "Aren't you supposed to be the quiet one?"

"The name is Scarlet, and is there a law that says I should be quiet? 'Cause I don't remember seeing it anywhere." _Yes! Now be quiet! Why am I talking?_

The entire class had different reactions towards my comment. Fishlegs's mouth dropped open, Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked like they were gonna pass out, Astrid looked a bit impressed, and Snotlout looked really pissed.

Before he could say anything else, our teacher stepped between us to prevent us from killing each other. "All right you two knock it off. Snotlout, I don't want to hear any unnecesary comments from you."

"What? She started it!"

"Uh, no I didn't." I said.

"Can I transfer to class with the cool vikings?" said Tuffnut as they walked away.

I let out a shaky breath I didn't even realize I was holding in. What just happened?

"Whoa Scarlet, what was that? I've never seen you like this." asked Hiccup, looking surprised himself.

I slowly shook my head. "I don't know."

"Well I think you were great." he said.

"Well now that we know you can talk, let's see if you can fight." said Gobber.

"Um, Gobber? I'm not really much of a fighter." I said.

"Yeah," agreed Hiccup, "Neither am I."

"Oh don't worry. You're both small and weak, that will make you less of a target. They'll see you two as sick or insane and go after the more viking-like teens instead."

I rolled my eyes. _Gee, thanks for your support._

"Behind these doors, are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. The Deadly Nadder..."

"Speed: eight; armor: sixteen." said Fishlegs. See? Told ya he loves to read.

"The Hideous Zippleback..." continued Gobber.

" Eleven stealth times two..."

"The Monstrous Nightmare..."

"Fire power: fifteen..." _Okay this is getting annoying._

"The Terrible Terror..."

"Attack: eight; venom: twelve..."

"CAN YOU STOP THAT?" shouted Gobber, "...and the Gronkle." he finished.

"Jaw strength: eight." whispered the boy with the hammer.

I turned my attention back to Gobber, only to see his hand on the lever and a devious smirk on his face. _Oh no._

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?" I heard a panicked Snotlout ask.

I turned to Hiccup, a look of fear on his face.

I shook my head. "Please don't tell me..."

He hesitantly nodded. "Run." he mouthed.

We slowly began inching away...

"I believe in learning on the job." He pulled the lever and...

**BAM!**

A huge Gronkle burst open the door and flew around, probably deciding which one of us would go first. The entire class was either trying to hide or trying to find a way to get the heck out of here.

"Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead." _Wow, really?_ I thought sarcastically, _I didn't know that we could die that way. Oh, wait. YES I DID! _I didn't really meant to think that but come on! What else am I supposed to think when a Gronkle is on the loose trying to roast us?

"Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor?" asked Hiccup.

"First Aid Kit?" I guessed. _Again... how much dumber can I get?_

"Plus five speed?" asked Fishlegs.

"A shield!" said Astrid, the only one who was actually enjoying this.

"Right! Shields go!" instructed Gobber, "The most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield."

I ran towards the pile of shields. I picked a purple one with a white dragon spinning around the metal in the center. _Hm, not bad. A bit heavy, but still._

"Get your hands off my shield!"

"There's like a million shields!"

I turned my head to see the Thorntson twins playing tug of war with a shield that had two flaming skulls designed on it. _Seriously?_

"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers." _Not all girls Tuffnut._

Ruffnut yanked the shield away and hit him on the head with it. "Oops, now this one has blood on it."

I heard a growl and saw the Gronkle a few feet away preparing to fire. I took that as my signal to leave. I ran away just in time when the dragon blasted the twins, only for it to blast the shield instead. The impact must have been so strong it sent them to the ground. I found myself with the others circling the dragon.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut! You're out!"

"What?" They asked, probably a bit dazed.

"Those shields are good for another thing: noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

Almost automatically, I took out my sword from it's cover that was strapped onto my belt and banged it against my shield. The others did the same thing with their weapons. The Gronkle looked dizzy so I banged my sword louder while we circled the dragon in order to confuse it.

"Each dragon has a limited number of shots, how many does a Gronkle have?"

_Erm... err... how should I know? A lot maybe?_

"Five?" asked Snotlout.

"No! Six!" said Fishlegs, looking proud of himself for his knowledge.

"Correct, six!" said Gobber, "That's one for each of you!"

"But-" A blast from the Gronkle interrupted him, destroying the shield in the process.

"Fishlegs, out."

The poor kid ran away screaming, not caring that he left his weapon behind. _Okay, so now it's just me, Snotlout, Astrid, Hiccup... wait, where did he go?_

"Hiccup, get in there!" shouted Gobber.

Hiccup was hiding behind the weapon vault, as soon as he came out, a fire-blast was sent in his direction, making him hide again. With a sigh I ran towards him. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked.

"Um, cowering behind a wooden wall?" I asked.

"Pretty much."

"Oh, come on Hiccup. Be a man, you can do this." I said.

"Of course I can." he said, not really convinced at himself.

"No really, you can. You need to learn how to defend yourself, I mean, what are you gonna do if your life gets threatened huh? Now get out there and do the best you can do!" I encouraged.

Hesitantly, he stepped out of the wooden wall. There was the sound of an explosion and a yelp.

"Snotlout, you're done." announced Gobber.

The news made Hiccup grin a bit, only to make his grin even bigger when Astrid somersaulted in our direction, her icy blue eyes never leaving the dragon.

"So, I guess it's just us?" started Hiccup.

"Nope, just you two." she said running in another direction. _What the...? Whoa!_

I hid behind my shield as the dragon fired, only causing Hiccup to loose his shield. The Gronkle chased him as he ran to desperately reach his shield as it rolled away. _Oh great, even the shield hates him._

The Gronkle led him towards the rocky wall , he was trapped! _Oh no you don't. Not today._

I couldn't let my best friend die, so I did the unthinkable. I ran towards them and slid between the two, I put up my shield and shut my eyes closed. _I hope this works._

**BOOM!**

Even though it didn't blast me, I could still feel the sweltering heat on my face. The sudden impact made me stumble backwards, loosing my grip on my shield, and finally landed on Hiccup's arms.

"And that's six," said Gobber as he hooked his prosthetic arm onto the beast's mouth and hauled it towards it's cage, "Go back to bed you overgrown sausage."

_Well this is awkward. _I could feel my blood rush to my face, my cheeks felt warm. I haven't been this close to him since yesterday when I had to carry him. It felt kind of... nice. My scarlet red eyes met his forest green ones, I felt like I could see his emotions just by looking at his eyes. Embarrassed, a bit calm, happy, and...

"Hey lovebirds, go make out somewhere else." said Tuffnut.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and dusted my leggings. "What? We are not lovebirds!"

"Riiiiiiiight..." teased Ruffnut, "And we're flying turtles."

I just glared at her. "Wow. That was so funny I forgot to laugh."

"Alright, that's enough. You'll get another chance, don't you worry." said Gobber, "Remember, a dragon will always," he turned his gaze towards Hiccup, "Always go for the kill."

I think training is over for today. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked Hiccup, who was still sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said. He was staring at the burned shield I had used earlier.

"Need a hand?" I held out my hand. He gladly took it and stood up.

"Thanks for helping me." he said, having a sudden interest on his boots.

"No problem. So I guess I'll see you around?" I said. I still felt awkward after... well you know.

"Sure." he said.

I gave him one last smile before sprinting off back home. I felt so weird, one minute I'm protecting him, and the next thing I know, I land on his arms and think about how cute he is. Hey wait, I wasn't thinking that! Augh! Sometimes I wonder if I'm using the girly side I didn't even know I had. Maybe a little drawing might get my mind off of it. I do love art.

I entered the kitchen and down the stairs I went towards a table in the middle of the cluttered room. I sat down, grabbed a pencil and paper and began my sketch.

I always did little shapes before drawing people. First I do a big circle for the head, then half an oval for the chin. Next I draw a little cylinder for the neck, and a square for the upper body. Then two long ovals sor the left arm, then another for the right arm, and circles at the end for the hands. I do the same for the legs. Now for the rest, first I complete the face giving it eyes, two eyebrows, a nose, and a mouth. Then a great-looking hairstyle, the ears are optional of course but I drew them anyway. I complete the body by drawing the rest of the arms and legs, and lastly draw a few accessories, like a shirt, pants, boots, you know, the usual. To officially finish I just erase the unnecessary lines and BAM! You have a drawing.

I sighed at my drawing. It was a picture of me and Astrid, not doing anything our separate ways but bonding and having a good time. In the sketch we were in a meadow surrounded by various types of flowers, she smiled as I placed a crown of daisies on her head. If only that could be real, she's way too stubborn, and I'm way too different. Sure she's a bit hard on me, but she's still my sister.

I took another piece of paper and drew another sketch, this time, it was Astrid riding a Nadder soaring through the sky. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit, it sounded silly. Vikings riding on dragons? That would be the day. I do wonder what would it be like to fly though, feeling the wind in your hair, going wherever you like, it sounds so wonderful.

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**Well that's it for now, but don't worry, I'll update as soon as I can. I couldn't resist on putting some drawing tips for those of you who like to draw. Hope this helps.**

**Please review.**


	5. A Stormy Night

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything! WHY?!**

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I felt my stomach grumble at it's emptiness, it's really uncomfortable. I didn't realize how late it was until the room suddenly got darker. How the days come and go so quickly; well time for dinner.

I stood up and walked upstairs not really caring about the pile of sketches I left on the table. I heard a crash of thunder outside, making me jump a bit. _Aw, it's raining? Rats._

I put my cloak back on and went outside towards the Mess Hall, which was the Council Hall but they only call it that way when there are meetings being held there. As I walked I noticed that the village looked somewhat deserted, probably because of the rain. My feet made little squishing sounds whenever I took a step, the air was as cold as ice, a sign that winter was on it's way to Berk.

I finally made it and pushed open one of the large double doors, which weren't really that heavy. Some vikings were chatting, others were drinking their mead either laughing or they were drunk, and one viking fell asleep. _Note to self: stay away from alcoholic drinks._ I removed my hood, picked up an empty tray and grabbed a chicken leg from the counter, turkey, whichever one it is. _Now, where to sit. Ah._

I spotted an empty table a few feet from the stone columns. I saw the group sitting on a nearby table with Gobber, probably talking about what not to do during a dragon attack, but I really didn't care. I really didn't want them to throw insults if they see me, so I tiptoed. _Almost there, just a few more steps to freedom..._

"Scarlet! Nice of you to join us tonight." I cringed at Gobber's voice.

_So much for freedom._ "Oh, hey. Sorry if I'm late, I had some stuff I needed to do." I said with a fake smile and sat down on an empty table beside theirs, I wasn't planning on getting closer. "So... what are we talking about?"

"About what we did wrong in the ring today." said Fishlegs, well at least he wasn't sarcastic. If he wasn't hanging out with them, I'd say we could have become great friends.

"He's right," said Gobber, "Let's start with..."

_Please don't be me, please don't be me... _I prayed in my mind.

"Snotlout!" _Yes!_

"Um, he was a total show off?" asked Tuffnut.

"Watch it blondie." warned Snotlout.

"He was a big jerk face." I muttered to myself, my voice so low that no one could hear.

"Nope, he got distracted that's what," said Gobber, "A real viking needs to pay attention to everything that surrounds him, so he can be prepared for any unsuspecting attacks. Now where did Tuffnut and Ruffnut go wrong?"

"They kept on fighting with each other?" asked Fishlegs.

"Right. Next time, save your energy for the dragons you two." he advised.

"Okay." said the twins. Finally agreeing on something, but then Tuffnut just had to open his big mouth.

"But she messed up a lot more than I did."

"What? You were the one who started it!" said Ruff. She punched him in the stomach. _That's gotta hurt._

"No! You did!" He shoved her.

"No, you!" She pushed him.

"Dragon breath!"

"Jelly brain!"

And they went on, and on, and on, and on! These guys could go forever! Who knows? Maybe even beyond that.

"Quiet down you two! Now, where did Fishlegs go wrong?" asked Gobber.

"Easy," said Snotlout, "he wouldn't shut up."

"I-I can't help it!" defended Fishlegs, "These things just tumble out you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever."

I just rolled my eyes and took a bite out of my dinner. _I knew it was a chicken!_

"Where did Scarlet go wrong?" _Oh, here we go._

"She wanted some alone time with Useless." said Tuffnut. They still remember that?

"Did not! And he's not useless. He's my friend." I defended, how dare he?

"Yes you did Red," said Ruffnut, "You were all over him." she snickered.

"I tripped and accidentally fell on him, end of story! Now stop calling me that." I hated that name, they just say it to make fun of my eyes. So my eyes are red! Big deal!

"We'll call you what we wanna call you Red." sneered Snotlout.

"Snotlout, enough." said Astrid, her voice as firm as a rock, as hard as steel, "Either you all leave her alone or somebody in this table will get murdered in their sleep tonight."

Wow, that's just... wow. Did she actually just defend me? My own sister?

With one last glare, she sat back down. The room was strangely quiet for a few minutes before Gobber broke the silence.

"Okay then. Now, where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?"

"I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy, it threw off my reverse tumble." she admitted.

"Yeah, we noticed." agreed Ruff.

"No no that was great, it was so Astrid." said Snotlout.

I rolled my eyes. _Kiss up._

"She's right, you have to be tough on yourself," said Gobber, "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

Huh? I didn't even notice he was here. He was sopping wet from head to toe as if he jumped in a lake or something. Keeping his gaze downcast, he made his way towards the table and reached for the plate, only to cause Snotlout to scoot over to an empty space next to him, as if trying to preventing from sitting there. As if he would want to be next to his bully of a cousin. Instead he made his way over my table, the closer he got the better I could see his facial expression more clearly. He looked upset, and a bit pensive.

"Uh, he showed up?" said Ruffnut.

"He didn't get eaten?" said the male twin.

"He's never where he should be." said Astrid, her tone now serious.

"Thank you Astrid," said Gobber who now had a book on his hand, "You need to live and breathe this stuff. The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of."

We all looked up at the booming sound of thunder. _It's still raining? Aw._

"No attacks tonight, study up."

Tuffnut dropped the dagger he was playing with as he realized something. "Wait, you mean read?" _No, he meant smell the book._

"While we're still alive?" asked Ruffnut.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" asked Snotlout.

"Ooh ooh! I've read it like seven times," said Fishlegs, "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face, and there's this other one that buries itself for like a week..."

As he spoke Snotlout looked at him like he'd gone crazy, Astrid looked uninterested, and the twins looked bored out of their minds. Me on the other hand, was impressed at his vast knowledge. I'm guessing he has a photographic memory or something similar.

"Yeah, sounds great," said Tuff, making a silencing motion with his hand to shut him up, "There was a chance I was gonna read that."

"But now..." trailed of his twin.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." stated Snotlout as he left, the others trailing behind him towards the exit. Only Astrid remained.

"So, I guess we'll share?" asked Hiccup.

"Read it." she shoved the book towards him and left.

"All mine then? Wow. Thanks. S-so, okay, I'll see you uh... tomorrow." he finished quietly.

After a few minutes it was quiet. He just sat back down and ate his dinner in silence, neither one of us spoke another word. Some vikings started leaving the hall, except for the one who was still asleep.

My thoughts drifted back to dragon training, about the Gronkle. Hiccup could have at least injured the dragon with his axe, or cut it, why didn't he do it? Why didn't he fight back? Better question, why wasn't he excited like the rest of us? I remember when he begged his dad to let him go to dragon training back then, the answer was always no. But if Stoick finally let him do it, why wasn't he happy? He didn't fight back, he kept hiding, he almost looked like he didn't want to hurt it. Why? Vikings are supposed to fight dragons, why didn't he? Sure, he's a bit scrawny, not really tough, a bit shy, but still... Ah!

I jumped at the sudden crack of thunder. Lightning must have struck somewhere nearby, I'm really glad I'm inside right now. It's not really scary during the day, but during the night it seemed like it.

After I finished my dinner, I decided to go to the library section of the hall. I wasn't really interested on the Dragon Manual so I decided to pick something more... exciting, mysterious, adventurous. I knew which book I was looking for, it had tons of mysteries.

I found myself surrounded by tons of book-filled shelves, I may not read as much as Fishlegs but I did like to read. I liked adventures, legends, fantasies, horrors, romance, but mostly legends. Sometimes I felt like the library was my own fortress of solitude, since not many vikings like to read. It was basically empty most of the time, it felt like some sort of secret hideout, you know what I mean? _Now where is that book? Let's see, A, B, C, D! There you are!_

I picked up a large red book entitled: 'Dragons and Vikings: Myths and Legends.' I blew away the leftover dust and headed back, when the room suddenly went dark. "What the..? Alright, who's the wise guy?" I asked, expecting somebody to jump out and try to scare me.

Silence.

"Hello? Anyone here? If this is some kind of a joke, it's not funny!" Again there was silence, just my own echo. _This is spooky._

This felt a lot more like a horror story, where the girl was all alone inside a dark, haunted mansion. _Pfff, yeah right! Like this place could actually be haunted, ha! That's a laugh._ I thought wrong when I heard a faint sound of howling wind, it grew louder till it sounded more like a whisper. But where was it coming from? I didn't know. It could have come from anywhere in the pitch black room. The whispering turned into a soft giggle, and a girlish one at that. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, it sent chills down my spine, and not in the good way. I held the book protectively over my chest, as if it was some kind of treasure.

"A-an-anyone? H-hello?"

Now it was laughing, almost like it was teasing me. I took a few steps back before I took off running, it didn't last very long because of my face meeting a very hard shelf.

"Ow!" I cried out, clutching my nose with one hand. The pain grew even worse when a whole avalanche of books hit my poor, innocent head. "Ouch! Hey!"

The laughter grew louder, laughing at my excruciating pain. Again I tried to run, and AGAIN hit my head on another shelf. What? In my defense it was dark! I hit myself, like, five times, not that I was clumsy or anything. I moaned in pain, I really hoped my nose wasn't bleeding. What is this? Torture Scarlet Day? The laugh intensified, turning more hysterical.

"Will you stop it? It's not funny!" I said, glaring at the darkness. I put my hands to my ears, desperately trying to block out the sound, letting the book fall onto the floor. But no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't go away. I shut my eyes closed, hoping that it was all a dream.

_No need to fear._

I gasped, only not from fear, but from surprise. It didn't sound mean or bitter, it sounded almost... nice. "Who are you? Where are you?"

No response. It was quiet, the only thing audible was the soft, pitter-patter of the rain.

"Are you there?" I whispered, a bit afraid of whoever it was.

Nothing. Whoever it was must have left, the only one here was me. I must be reading horror stories one too many times. It wasn't long before I screamed when I felt something warm on my left shoulder.

"Whoa! Scarlet it's only me." I heard the familiar sound of Hiccup's voice say. I turned around to see him holding a lit candle. I didn't know why but, it made me feel better. _He_ made me feel better. Why was that?

"Huh? Oh, hi Hiccup. Sorry about that, I guess I was expecting someone else." I said, picking up the book from the cold, rocky floor.

"Like who?" he asked.

"I don't know, I just did." I shrugged.

"Are you okay? I heard yelling."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." _I guess._

"Come on let's get back. It's way too dark here." he said.

I nodded and proceeded to follow him back to the Mess Hall. I did not want to spend one more minute in there, at least not during the night. We quietly made it back to find the hall completely empty. There was only one table with two lit candles awaiting our arrival, in the center was the Dragon Manual. I sat down near the edge and began reading my book, while Hiccup read the manual. I heard him mumbling to himself but I couldn't clearly make out what he said, something about a Timberjack.

I kept reading my book, currently on chapter nine: The Legend of Grimbeard the Ghastly. It said that he used to be a pirate who had stolen a lot of treasure, legend has it that before he died, he hid his treasure somewhere deep in the Isle of Skullions, where a ferocious dragon guarded it for centuries.

A loud crash of thunder echoed through the halls, making me and Hiccup jump a bit. One of the large double-doors opened to reveal the flashing sight of lightning. _Someone should really fix that door._ It always somehow opens by itself.

The next page showed a picture of the Island of Skullions, which was actually a large piece of land shaped like a skull. It made me shudder a bit, it's really creepy-looking.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Hiccup say the word, "Night Fury."

This perked up my interest. I pretended to read my book while I did my best to listen closely.

"Speed: unknown; size: unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you."

It sounded more dangerous than I thought it would, no wonder vikings usually stay away from those. But how would they know if they never saw one?

I scooted a bit closer to see the Night Fury section completely blank, exept for the warnings at the bottom. Hiccup looked deep in thought, not noticing that I had gotten a bit closer. He reached into his vest, took out a little notebook, and placed it on the Dragon Manual. It was opened to reveal a picture of a dragon with two large, bat-like wings. At the base of the tail were two fin-like objects, and at the end was one tailfin, the other one looked like it had been erased.

"Hiccup? What is that?" I asked.

"W-what? Oh, this? Nothing, t-that's just a drawing I made." he said, quickly shutting the notebook closed.

"Really? Can I see it?"

"Uh Scarlet, I don't think that's a good idea." he stood up and hid the book behind his back.

"Why not?"

"Just because."

"Aw come on Hiccup, please?"

"No."

"Fine, then you leave me no choice." I stood up and took a few steps towards him, "Tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle!"

"Scarlet no!" Before I knew it, he took off running. _This is gonna be fun._

"Come back here!" I ran after him as fast as I could.I couldn't help the smirk forming on my lips. I haven't done this since we were kids. We ran and ran in circles, with me laughing all the way.

"Never!" he yelled, although I thought I saw a smile.

_Okay then, time to go full force._ I lunged and tackled him to the ground, tickle time!

"N-no! S-stop haha it! Ahahahahahahaha!"

"Show me the drawing and I'll stop." I said, tickling his stomach and sides.

"No way, hahaha!" he laughed.

"Come on Hiccup, I could do this all ni-ah!" I yelped.

He jumped and tackled me, pinning me to the cold, hard floor. _Oh no._

"You wouldn't dare." I said.

"Oh yes I would."

It wasn't long before it was his turn to start tickling me, sending me into a laughing fit. He tickled my sides, my stomach, even my neck.

"Who's laughing now?" he playfuly mocked.

"H-hiccup! Ahahaha, quit it! Hahahaha! Okay! Haha, okay! I surrender!" I said between fits.

He stopped. I smiled, both hands behind my back.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked suspiciously.

"Look what I got." I revealed the little notebook I was hiding behind me.

"What the..? How did you get that?" he asked, searching through his vest.

"I have my ways," I said. I opened it and flipped through the pages until I found the drawing of the dragon, "What is this?"

"A dragon." he said.

"Well yeah, but what kind of dragon? I've never seen one like this before." I said. It was amazing, the coolest thing I've ever seen. But is it real? "Please Hiccup, tell me."

"Well, it might sound a bit crazy," he said, rubbing his arm, "but it's actually a Night Fury."

"Really? Wow. You know, I think you might be a better artist than me, this is incredible." I stopped when I thought of something, I wonder... "Hiccup, is this thing still around here?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because, I want to see it. I've always wanted to see a Night Fury in real life. Do you know where it is?" I asked. _Please say yes..._

"Sorry, I can't tell you." _Darn it._

"Please, I promise I won't tell anyone." I pleaded.

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die." I said making an x over my heart.

"Well... you do seem trustworthy..." he said, studying me from head to toe, "...okay. Tomorrow after training."

"Yes! Thank you so much!" I hugged him in a friendly way. _He smells like pine. I never noticed._

Hesitantly, he returned the hug. I couldn't wait for tomorrow.


	6. Forbidden Friendship I

**I fixed some stuff...**

**Disclaimer: Do I even have to say it?**

* * *

**(The Next Day...)**

_Man, my back feels sore._ I rubbed it to try and make the pain go away on my way across the bridge to the training ring, it still wouldn't go away. It felt like carrying hundreds of large stones on your back. _I didn't know Astrid wasn't a morning person; I think I should see a healer about this._

I tried multiple times to wake up my sister but she wouldn't budge, I yelled "DRAGON!" and the next thing I knew, I got slammed into the wall... hard!

"Ow." I moaned. I was arched, it hurt if I tried to straighten up, and I couldn't move my back.

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad." said Astrid, her tone a bid harsh. Guess she's still cranky.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who's in pain." I hissed, mostly because of how much it hurts.

"Get over here. Turn around." she commanded. I obeyed of course, to avoid any anger issues, "This might hurt a bit."

"What?" **CRACK!** "YYYYEEEEEOOOOOW!" A bit?! That hurt a lot! Well, at least I can stand up straight, "Uh, thanks."

"Whatever." she said, still mad about the false alarm. Eventually the pain disappeared. Thank goodness...

...

We finally made it to the ring, the wooden gate was already open but there wasn't anybody in there. Maybe we came a bit early. When we entered, there were these large wooden walls everywhere we looked, like some sort of maze_._

I picked the purple shield from yesterday. It looked like it was brand-new, no burn marks anywhere, just purple and white.

"Hi Astrid, hey Red." Snotlout sneered as he walked in with his trusty weapon. _Hey_ _Snotface._

The rest of the class made their way towards the pile of shields, not bothering to say a word, not even the twins. Even after Hiccup entered they still didn't say anything. We kept waiting for our crazy teacher to appear from... well anywhere actually. This maze is huge! The walls look bigger than a Monstrous Nightmare, no really, they do! Anyone could get lost in here. We just stood there, staring at the almost grey walls waiting for something to happen. _Please let something interesting happen!_

_THUMP!_

And my wish is granted. I jumped a bit and held up my shield in case something happened. My hand moved to the hilt of my sword, preparing myself for anything. Although I did feel a bit nervous of whatever type of dragon it might be this time. Gulp.

"Um, what was..?" started a nervous Fishlegs, he was already shaking from fear.

"Shh!" we all shushed.

_THUMP!_

There it was again, only closer. We stayed quiet for a few more seconds, waiting for anything before-

**BOOM!**

There was now a gaping, burning hole right next to me. We slowly turned our heads forward to find a very, angry-looking Nadder perched on one of the wooden boards. _Uh-oh._

"RUN!" shouted Tuffnut, before we all took off in different directions.

I ran as fast as I could, not planning on stopping anywhere near it, gripping my shield tighter. Where is Gobber anyhow? I haven't seen him, please don't tell me he's planning to leave us here alone with that mutant reptile-bird thing. I could only see walls, walls, and more walls. _Jeez, where's the safe zone in here?_

"Oof!" I felt something hard against my body as I collided with someone, "Sorry. I- I wasn't looking."

"No, that's okay. Oh, hey Scarlet."

"Hi Hic- LOOK OUT!" I shouted.

The Nadder opened it's mouth to let loose a hot, fiery blast. Luckily, it didn't hit him but it did hit the blade of his axe, and left a big hole behind him._  
_

"Focus Hiccup! You're not even trying!" I heard the voice of Gobber say. He sounded like he was coming from above. He was standing on the edge of the arena, the metal bars holding his weight as his body was supported to them. "Today is about attack. Nadders are quick and light on their feet, your job is to be quicker and lighter."

After I saw him run, I knew I had to get out of here, so I did. I ran around another wall to find sharp spikes shot out from it's tail towards the other side of the wall to my left.

"AHHHHHH!" screamed Fishlegs, he sounded close, "I'm really starting to question your teaching methods!" _You aren't the only one._

"Look for it's blind spot, every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike."

I kept running, almost bumping into Fishy, who had poison spikes stuck on his shield. Perfect, another reason to stay away from it. It wasn't long when I heard the twins fighting yet again. Something told me that they found it's blind spot, and something else told me that they won't last long. _3... 2... 1..._

**BOOM!**

"Blind spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much." he chuckled, as if the situation was entertaining him.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, run! I ran and ran just passing Hiccup. "So how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" he asked. _Hiccup, now is not the time for questions!_

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale, NOW GET IN THERE!" shouted our teacher.

_I don't have time for this. _I kept going until I stopped when I saw a growling, flash of blue around the corner. I stopped just in time, I really did not want to become dragon food right now. My heart was beating really fast, I took deep breaths trying to slow it down, tiny beads of sweat pouring from my forehead, my legs felt weak and tired. I peeked out to see what it was doing when I saw my sister make a little barrel roll to the other side of the wall. Next came Snotlout, then Hiccup, but the weight of the shield was a bit too much for him and sent him to the ground. The blue-scaled dragon took this as an opportunity to snap at him, fortunately he got away just in time. _Phew, that was close. Maybe I'll just stay here for a little while._

I herd the Nadder run into another direction, away from me... until it got close again, when is that thing going to leave?

"Watch out babe, I'll take care of this." I heard Snotlout's voice say, followed by a little bumping sound, "The sun was in my eyes Astrid. What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that but I don't have the time right now."

I couldn't help but stiffle a laugh at his lame excuse. No one can block out the sun, speaking of which, the sun isn't that bright right now.

**CRASH!**

_That can't be good. _The Nadder was chasing Astrid and led it straight into a wall, making it crash into another wall, making a domino effect with every wall in here. The next thing I knew, she was jumping from wall to wall, the Nadder trying to snap at her.

"Ah! HICCUP!"

"Gah!"

Well, this is clearly something you don't see everyday. Hiccup was on the floor while Astrid was on top of him, both their legs in a knot. I fought the urge to laugh, trying to remain serious about this whole... tangled situation. _Oh, I wish someone would invent something to capture this moment._

"Ooh, love on the battlefield." teased Tuffnut.

"She could do better. Hey Red, looks like your sister here is trying to steal your man." yelled Ruffnut.

"He. Is. Not. My. Man!" I shouted. I could feel my blood boil, my face felt hot, and an odd, sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Let me... why don't you..? Ow!"

Astrid finally broke free and stood up, but didn't look very pleased with Hiccup. She gasped when she saw the Nadder heading their way, a hint of panic in her eyes as she desperately tugged at her axe, which was stuck on his shield. It kept getting closer, it kinda looked hungry. _Not good! Not good! Get out of there! Do something!_

She pulled with all her might, putting her foot on his face at the attempt. His shield was still stuck when she pulled it away from his grip, with a running start she bashed the dragon on it's horned nose... erm... snout (I think... I don't really care), the shield breaking into numerous pieces. The Nadder was dazed by the strong blow and without a second thought, it waddled away back to it's cage. I didn't know why, but I felt a bit sorry for it.

"Well done Astrid." congratulated Gobber, though she didn't look happy at all.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you? Our parents' war is about to become ours, figure out which side you're on." she said, pointing her axe dangerously inches away from Hiccup's face.

I really wanted to say something against it, no really I did, but when you have a moody sister with anger issues and holding a really sharp axe, it wouldn't go very well. Trust me. I could get chopped to pieces, and she could feed them to the Terrors, plus, she is really intimidating. Either she was mad at him for her embarrassing moment, or she was still cranky about this morning, I couldn't tell. _I'm sorry Hiccup._

Even though I knew it wasn't really my fault, I still felt a bit guilty. With a final glare, she stomped away to the exit, the others trailing behind her quietly, they knew better than to mess with her, especially when she was angry.

Hiccup was still on the ground, looking clearly hurt and disappointed with himself. I felt really bad for him, it reminded me of the time when I had found him bruised and injured after Snotlout had used him as his personal punching bag. He looked so hurt and disappointed for being unable to fight back. I didn't like seeing him like this back then, and I don't like seeing him like this now.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"A little. But at least I'm alive." he said, though he sounded a bit glum.

"Aw, forget about her. She was just in a bad mood that's all." I assured.

"It could be that."

We spent most of the time talking about what we did recently on the way to his house, since he said he needed something. As soon as he entered I heard struggling, then a thump, a moan, and then another thump followed by an "oof!" _What is he doing in there?_

Whe he came back he was carrying a large shield and a raw, smelly fish. _Yuck!_

"Ugh, what's with the fish?" I asked, wrinkling my nose at it's foul stench.

"For the dragon." he said.

Oh, right! We're gonna see the Night Fury! I finally get to see one in person, I could barely hold in my excitement as we walked through the dense forest. It wasn't foggy like last time, the sunshine made it look nicer and pleasant to look at, and the temperature was just right. I think it looks better that way, don't you think? We spent walking for hours, I wondered if Hiccup knew if we were in the right direction, but decided not to question him.

"You never told me if it was male or female you know." I said, thinking about what it might be.

"I don't know, I never noticed," he said sheepishly, I just looked at him, "What? I didn't think it would matter."

"Hm, If it's a girl, what do you think of the name 'Fauna'? I asked.

"Why Fauna?"

I shrugged, "I dunno, I just like the name."

"Well then, what if it's a male?" he asked.

"To tell you the truth, I never though of that, heh." Now it was my turn to feel sheepish, playing with my hair a little.

"So, just because you can't think of a name, it can't be a male?"

"You're the boy here, can't you think of one?"

We stopped in front of a large, mossy rock formation decorated with some tree-roots, a crack big enough for us to go through. I suddenly felt a bit nervous of imagining that the rarest dragon ever known is waiting on the other side, possibly wanting to kill us once we got through!

"Um, Hiccup, are you sure this is a good idea? What if it's a trap?" I asked.

"Scarlet, you were the one that wanted to come with me here in the first place. You're not scared are you?"

"Scared? No!" I said, "Just horribly terrified right now. This is a Night Fury we're talking about."

"Oh come on, really, I mean what's the worst that could happen?" he asked, "Wait, don't answer that." _Darn, I had some ideas._

We went through the entrance as quietly as possible, Hiccup hid behind his shield while I hid behind him. I could feel my heart race, a mix of both fear and excitement filled my body, suddenly feeling weak and vulnerable, yet strong and relaxed.

He stopped just a few inches away. Peeking out, he threw the dead fish to the other side, landing with a loud plop. I shut my eyes closed, waiting for anything to happen... nothing. Hiccup peeked out once more before walking forward, only to stop when the shield got suck between two boulders. He tugged at it, it wouldn't budge. He crawled under it and pulled again, nope, still stuck. _Stupid shield._

I too crawled under the now useless piece of round wood to the other side, it was beautiful. It was actually a large cove, a beautiful waterfall formed a crystalline lake in the center, a few grey rocks here and there, and tiny, emerald-colored blades of soft grass decorating the ground. This place could be perfect for a camping spot, it was just so amazing.

Though my amazed moment was short-lived when I felt like something was off, like someone was staring at you and you don't even know it, weird. I heard Hiccup gasp, in a way you would if you found something scary. I looked to his direction, I gasped as well. There, crawling down a large rock, was a Night Fury, _the _Night Fury. It's midnight black scales glimmered in the afternoon sun, it's toxic green eyes look like it was staring right into the dephs of your soul, like it knew that you had met your worst nightmare. Just by looking at it, it looked hard to believe that this terrifying, yet magnificent bat-winged creature was once captured. I really had no idea what were those things on it's head, either they were antennae or ears, I couldn't tell.

It sniffed the air, and crouched down in a cat-like position, as if ready to pounce at any moment. I could feel myself trembling in fear, trying to make myself unnoticed by hiding behind Hiccup, even though knowing that it wasn't working. It growled when I had moved, a kind of growl that I understood as a warning. Nervously, Hiccup held out the fish. At first it moved closer, cautiously making it's way towards the disgusting "snack", it's sharp slits became round, I couldn't believe it, it looked almost cute, until it backed away and growled again. _Eep. __Please don't tell me that you don't like fish, please don't eat us_.

I wondered what was wrong until Hiccup opened his fur vest to reveal a dagger strapped onto his belt. It's eyes narrowed into slits again, as he reached for the weapon it growled even louder. He momentarily paused but reached his dagger and let it fall on the ground, the dragon didn't look convinced. Next he picked up his dagger with his left foot and threw it into the lake, the dragon's muscles relaxed a little but did not change it's stance. What did it want? And why was it looking at me? "Hiccup, why is it looking at me?" I whispered.

"I don't think it's looking at you." he said.

I followed the dragon's gaze, it wasn't looking at me, it was looking at my sword. So? _Oh no, there is absolutely no way that I'm going to get rid of it, nuh-huh._

_Just do it, maybe it'll trust you if you do. _Argued a voice in the back of my head._ Try it._

My hands shook a bit as I unbuckled the weapon from my belt, which I always wore in a lopsided fashion. Tearing my eyes away from it, I threw it into the lake. He owes me big time.

The Night Fury stopped glaring and sat down like a dog would do, it's eyes big and doe-like. _Aw, so cute. What? No! Dragons are not supposed to look cute, they're dragons!_

It slowly made it's way towards the fish, opening it's mouth to reveal big, sharp... gums? Aren't dragons supposed to have teeth? This is weird.

"Huh. Toothless. I could have sworn you had..." said Hiccup, only to be cut off when teeth suddenly popped out of the dragon's gums, snatched the fish and ate it whole. _Sweet mother of Odin, what was that?!_

"...teeth." he finished, protectively putting his hands to his chest, while I tried not to faint from shock.

_Retractable teeth, it has retractable teeth... Don't pass out, don't pass out. _I hid behind a rock, not wanting to come out and face that... that... creature. I peeked out to see the Night Fury lick it's lips in satisfaction, it's eyes became slits again when it noticed Hiccup and walked towards him, I think it wanted more fish.

"Ah, ah. No, no, no." he stuttered, tripping on a tiny rock and falling backwards, "I-I don't have any more."

The dragon stopped just inches away, beginning to make a strange hacking sound coming from it's throat. It sounded almost as if it was gonna...

SPLAT!

_Ew! Ew gross, blech! Ugh! Gods that's disgusting!_ The dragon had regurgitated the fish on Hiccup's lap, it was covered in slime and bitten into it. The dragon then stood up and sat down, almost in a human sort of way, it's wings drooping on it's sides. _Okay then... now what?_

We just stared at the fish, then at the dragon, expecting for it to do something. It just kept staring, as if waiting for us to do something.

_Well, what is he supposed to do, eat it? _As if to answer my question, it gestured from the fish to Hiccup._ Seriously? That's just so gross! _Just by thinking about it made my stomach churn in a nauseating way. With a defeated sigh, he lifted the fish to his mouth and took a bite out of it, looking a bit grossed out by the raw taste, but he managed to smile. "Mm-hm!"

The dragon then swallowed, gesturing to him to do the same. Hiccup had a look that clearly said "Aw, come on!" but he swallowed it anyway. I could feel some warm liquid rise from my stomach up my throat. Tearing my gaze, I clamped a hand over my mouth to prevent my breakfast from coming out in the wrong direction and forcefully swallowed it, not caring about the awful taste it left. Ugh, even though I never ate a raw fish I could imagine how he felt, it's not a pleasant experience.

The dragon licked it's lips, Hiccup just gave a goofy smile. The corners of the Night Fury's mouth twitched a little, it's scaly lips slowly becoming a strange-looking smile, a toothless smile. _Forget ferocious and dangerous, this thing is adorable, aw!_

Slowly, Hiccup reached out his hand to touch it, only to cause it to growl, baring it's teeth, it flew clumsily to the other side of the lake. _Well... that was different._

I stood up and turned to face Hiccup, he was gone! He was just here a minute ago, where did he go? I looked to where the dragon was, only to find it lying on a patch of burned grass looking at a little bird flying away from it's nest, almost looking like it was wishing to fly. Well it has wings doesn't it? Then why won't it fly away? A tiny, red figure caught my attention, Hiccup was sitting right next to the dragon, his fear and nervousness completely vanished. He waved casually as the dragon noticed him. Annoyed, it moved it's tail for it to cover it's face with it's large fin. Hiccup scooted a bit closer, reaching out carefully to touch it's tail...

"Grrgl?"

The dragon had lifted it's tail and looked at him as if saying "What do you think you're doing?"

Not wanting any more trouble, he stood up and walked away towards my direction. "So, how'd it go?" I asked.

"Okay, I guess," he said, "I'm really grateful it didn't eat me."

"No kidding, that thing almost gave me a heart attack." I said, which is true! Did you see those teeth pop out? "So, what now?"

* * *

**Review if you wanna, but it would really make me happy if you did. :)**


	7. Forbidden Friendship II and Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I only own Scarlet (and the mysterious library 'ghost'), the rest belongs to Dreamworks, and Cressida Cowell.**

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. You're saying that it can't fly away because one of it's tail fins somehow got ripped off when it crashed?" I asked.

"Yep, pretty much." said Hiccup, sitting cross-legged on a rock with his arms crossed over his chest. We still hadn't left the cove even after the dragon had decided to take a little nap, resting upside-down on a tree branch like a giant bat. It was somewhat funny though.

I sighed, resting my head on my knees. That explains why it was so clumsy that day when it flew away, it's missing a tail fin. It must be horrible not being able to do what you love the most. I mean, how can anyone not love to fly? It must be great, no wonder dragons do it all the time.

"So, how did you get into Dragon Training? I thought your parents would never let you do something like that." he said.

"I don't know really, they just let me. What about you? How did you get in?" I asked.

"I don't know either. First he doesn't want me to, and then all of a sudden he wants me to do it. I don't get it."

"Neither do I." I said.

I just sat on the ground, listening to the beautiful melody of the singing birds. Each tweet and chirp making a different note, sometimes a high note, other times a lower note than the other. It sounded so peaceful.

But that wasn't the only sound. There was a scratching sort of noise, and when I looked at Hiccup I found the source. He was drawing in the dirt with a stick, his strokes nice and even. He appeared to be drawing the Night Fury; suddenly a dark shadow was cast over the sketch, caused by none other than the 'model' itself (still don't know the gender, so we'll call it an IT until we find out). Hiccup and I both stiffened, my teeth digging into my lip. Hiccup kept drawing none the less, his strokes becoming quicker. The dragon cocked it's head and crooned, it's eyes following the stick's movement. With a final croon, it walked away. Both curious, Hiccup and I glanced over to see the peculiarly friendly dragon ripping a long branch from a tree. _What the..?_

The dragon dragged the branch across the ground this way and that, leaving thin, dirt lines behind. It spun and twirled, left to right, up and down, ok I'm getting a little dizzy. We both ducked when the large branch almost hit us in the back of our heads. Is it trying to draw?

As amazing as it was to see a drawing dragon, the drawing made no sense whatsoever, they were just a bunch of squiggly lines on the dirt. It purred, pleased with it's 'masterpiece', maybe it saw something we didn't? Hm...

I jumped at the sudden growl it gave, now what did we do? I looked at Hiccup for help to see him stepping on a line, when he lifted his foot the growling ceased, instead it purred. _Dragons can purr? Who knew?_

He got a curious look on his face, a look that said "I wonder if..." He stepped on the line again, it growled. He lifted his foot, it purred. He did it once more, it growled and crouched a bit, looking ready to pounce. "Hiccup, will you cut it out?" I hissed.

"Sorry." he said, stepping over the line this time. The dragon purred happily, content with his action. _Oh, I get it now._

Hiccup stepped over each line, careful not to ruin the 'drawing'. He walked this way and that, spinning and twirling, it almost looked like he was doing some sort of awkward dance. I couldn't help but giggle at the sight, it was a bit funny... and a bit fun I admit.

My breath caught it my throat when Hiccup bumped against the Night Fury, it snorted, ruffling his hair a bit. It didn't look angry, it looked a bit happy, though it's expression changed when Hiccup tried to touch it again, it growled. He retreated his hand causing it to stop, obviously it didn't want to be touched. Hiccup bowed his head, averting his eyes from the dark, winged reptile, and slowly reached out again, his hand only an inch apart from it's nose. The dragon's eyes widened, clearly not expecting this human to trust it. For a brief moment I thought it was gonna bite his hand off.

Hiccup still didn't look up, his hand still raised. It moved a little, and then... it finally pressed it's nose against his hand. He opened his eyes, looking a bit surprised at the dragon's action. I was pretty surprised myself, I thought it would go like something along the lines of screaming, and chaos, but this? This wasn't what I was expecting at all. The dragon pulled away from his touch, it shook it's head and went off in another direction.

"Whoa, that was... amazing." I breathed.

"I know," he said.

With nothing else to say, we headed back to the rocky entrance, where the shield was still waiting for us. It wouldn't be such a good idea to just leave it here, someone might bound to notice it and get suspicious. If it happens someone might spot the Night Fury and, well, you know what might happen next. Well, if one person couldn't do it, maybe two could work.

"Hey, Hiccup?"

"Hmm?"

"I really don't think this shield could work as a door. What if someone sees it?" I asked.

"You're right, but how do we take it out? It's stuck." he said.

"Okay, you go to the other side and push and I'll pull."

He nodded and crawled to the other side, "Okay, on the count of three."

I put my hands on the edge of the shield, preparing myself.

"One...two...three!"

I began pulling at the shield, tugging with all my might. Gods, this thing is really stuck! "Push!"

"I'm pushing!" he said.

"Then push harder!"

"You pull harder!"

"I'm pulling as hard as I ca- whoa!" The shield loosened and popped right off of the rocky columns, pushing me off balance making fall to the ground taking the shield with me. "Oof! I'm okay!"

I heard Hiccup suddenly gasp, "Scarlet, don't move."

"Why not?" I asked. I saw a dark shadow looming right over me, like a large cloud blocking the bright sun. _Uh-oh._

My heart suddenly began to beat at a rapid pace but I still made no movements. The dragon's green eye's met mine, only thy weren't in slits, they looked big and round. It tilted it's head a little, almost curious. Must be my eyes...again! Does everyone I meet have to do that? Then it did something completely unexpected, the dragon stuck out it's tongue and dragged it across my face, leaving nothing but slimy saliva on my cheek and leaving half of my hair standing straight up. I did my best not to look completely disgusted.

_Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew! _Despite the gross event, I managed to smile a bit.

It smiled a unique, and adorable might I add, toothless smile. It crooned happily... at me. _Maybe this one isn't so bad._

* * *

"...and with one twist, he took my hand, and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face, I was delicious. It must have passed the word, because it wasn't another month before another one of them took my leg." said Gobber, gesturing to his wooden peg-leg. The class oohed and awed in amazement, while I just stared off into space, not really interested.

Night had fallen faster than I thought it would. Gobber had "offered" us to join him an the others to a little gathering session, and by "offered" I mean forced. He said it would help us bond with the rest of the classmates, yeah right, like that's ever gonna happen. We were gathered in one of the catapult towers, a tiny fireplace right in the center for us to cook our food.

The air was cold, winter was coming faster than ever, pretty soon the village you see here will be covered in snow, the animals will be hibernating making much harder to hunt, and all of the rivers, lakes, and ponds will be frozen solid.

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon, like if your mind was still in control of it? You could have killed it from the inside by crushing it's heart or something." Everyone looked at him as if he were crazy.

"I swear, I'm so angry right now!" said Snotlout, scowling at the chicken on his stick, "I'll avenge your beautiful hand, and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight... with my face!"

I rolled my eyes. _Keep dreaming tough guy._

"No, it's the wings and the tails you really want, if it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon" said Gobber.

The class nodded in agreement. It sent chills down my spine as I thought of the Night Fury and what happened to it's tail fin, who knows what could happen to the poor dragon if it never got back in the air again, I wonder how we could fix that. Gobber got up and yawned, "Well, I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we begin with the big boys, slowly but surely making our way to the Monstrous Nightmare, but who will win the honor of killing it?" The others grinned, interested with the challenge. I'm not a mind-reader but the looks on their faces said it all, I knew what they were thinking: _I will be the one._

"It's gonna be me," said Tuffnut, "It's my destiny, see?" He lifted up part of his shirt to reveal a tiny, dragon-shaped tattoo on his stomach. Well that's disturbing.

Fishlegs gasped, "Your mom let you get a tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo, it's a birthmark." Okay, even more disturbing.

"I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before." said Ruffnut.

"Yes it was!" he insisted, "You just haven't seen me from the left side until now."

I glanced over where Hiccup was, only to see a fish on a stick where he was supposed to be sitting. Wasn't he just here? I stood up and walked to the edge of the tower. Nothing but a wooden ramp leading to the bottom toward the village, a lone, shadowy figure running toward the forge. Well that explains it, what is he doing? I decided to follow him, quietly running in the same direction. He's up to something, I just know it.

I stepped in quietly, making sure not to make a lot of noise. The room was really dark and cluttered, shields and weapons everywhere, a large stone wheel in the far corner, and a little fireplace in the middle of the room. The only source of light was coming from the back room, or should I say, Hiccup's thinking chamber. It's the only place where he concentrates when thinking new ideas for his inventions, like last time when he created a blueprint about a machine called: The Mutilator. The place is always cluttered with blueprints, models, and such, all of that in one small room. He never let's anyone in unless they got his permission, except for Gobber, his dad, and me.

I smirked to myself, a little idea forming in my head. I slowly crept to the door...

"Boo!"

"Ah! Scarlet don't sneak up on me like that! Why did you do that?" he said, his pencil had flown up and dropped on his head after he had screamed.

I couldn't help but laugh, "Because I thought it would be fun. So what are you up to this time?"

"Remember when I told you about the tail fin?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well I've been thinking about what Gobber said, and I want to help Toothless get back on the air again. I have a few ideas-"

"Wait, hang on a second. Who the heck is Toothless?" I asked.

He just gave me a who-do-you-think-it-is? look, "The Night Fury, who else?"

"You named it Toothless, what kind of name is that?"

"Well I thought of the whole retractable teeth thing, and thought it was a better name than Gummy." he replied. He did have a point there.

"Toothless. Toothless, hm, it does have a nice ring to it. Okay, Toothless it is then." He's right, it does sound better, "You were saying?"

"Well I was thinking of making a replacement fin, it somehow gives the right amount of weight and balance for it to fly and change direction. If I could make one just like it, maybe it would help Toothless fly again." he said.

"How are you gonna do that?" I asked. I took out a piece of parchment paper and a pencil, starting a bit of random doodling.

"Hey, I'm a blacksmith remember? I'm an expert on these kind of things."

"Apprentice!" I added.

"Okay, apprentice blacksmith. I'm gonna have to melt down a few weapons, dismantle a few shields... what are you doing?" he said, peeking over my shoulder, curious at what I had drawn.

At first, I was making some doodles of Toothless, mostly drawings of said dragon with it's big eyes and it's toothless grin. It was just so irresistible to draw, it's cute. But when I remembered Hiccup's idea of a replacement fin, I kinda got inspired a little bit and started drawing it. It looked exactly like a normal tail fin except I added a few bolts and some metal.

"Whoa, Scarlet. This is perfect!" he said, a big smile on his face.

"It is?" I asked.

"Yes! Just look at it, it's genius!"

I couldn't help but blush a bit at the comment, "Thanks. But if you're gonna make the fin, how are you going to keep it attached?"

"I'll figure something out." he said, pulling on his apron and bursting through the door. _Wow, he really is that eager to get started._

I could already hear the clattering noise of metal and the pumping of the bellows, he always got excited whenever he got new ideas, and he always went to work on them right away. I really wanted to do something to help but I really don't know a thing about blacksmithing, nothing at all! Maybe I should just let the expert take care of it while I work on my doodles.

I did nothing but draw Toothless, it was just so adorable to resist. I drew the black dragon in many different positions, like sitting, flying, in a fighting stance, eating fish, even shooting fire balls. I still didn't know what were those things on it's head though, I wish I knew.

**_CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!_**

I tried to ignore the loud sounds of Hiccup's hammer as it made contact with the red, hot metal. As hard as I tried, I couldn't block the noise, cringing every now and then.

**_CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!_**

_Agh! Make it stop already! _It was now irritating my ears, my brain was pounding against my skull. _Just ignore it, just ignore it, just ignore... huh?_

I spotted something brown wedged in between the floor and a basket big enough to place a whole lot of fish in. Curious, I bent over and pulled it out. It felt so smooth, and soft to the touch. Maybe this could be useful.

"Hey Hiccup? Do you think this could help?" I asked, showing him a large piece of leather.

"I think so." he said, not tearing his eyes away from the red, hot metal he was hammering.

"You haven't even looked at it." I said with a dull look on my face.

"Maybe later, I just need to finish this first."

"Sure thing." I said, and sat back down. I wanted to draw Toothless again but decided I'd better take a break for a little moment.

Seconds turned to minutes, and those minutes turned into hours. I suddenly felt a little sleepy, my eyelids felt heavier. _No, no, no. Must stay awake._ I suddenly let out a small yawn, I really wanted to just curl up in my bed and sleep._ I'll just take a quick nap. I'm sure it won't hurt, maybe for a minute or two... _

_...or three..._

_... or four... _Before I had made it to the number five, I had already fallen asleep.

* * *

_Hnah. Hm, wow, that was a really short nap. I feel so much better, wait... what happened to the forge? Where is the forge?_

_Dark, grey fog blocked my vision, the air felt unusually warm, like it was hot yet cold at the same time. My hair was blowing wildly against the wind, as if I was falling, yet I was not. I felt something soft under me, as if I was sitting on something. I looked at my arms to find them wrapped around someone, but not just any someone, my best friend. Why? I don't know, but that didn't stop me from blushing a bit. Wait, why is he here in the first place? Bigger question, where am I?_

_I turned my head a few times to try and find out my location, the only thing I saw was fog. Hold it, this isn't fog. Fog isn't dark, what is this a cloud? Am I flying?_

_I looked down to only see clouds, and something black. I looked like a wing, a bat-like shaped wing, a Night Fury's wing. Wait, not one, but two pairs of wings. Wings, clouds, Night Fury, my best friend... Yes, we're flying! I wanted to smile, but something kept me from doing so, I noticed something strange about the clouds. They were grey yes, but it's not raining, its not even a storm. The environment was really gloomy... the scary kind of gloomy. Something just didn't seem right._

_I looked back to see what was happening, I really shouldn't have done that. I saw the familiar shade of brown strapped on Toothless' tail, the new tail fin was on fire, burning the remains of the prosthetic. We weren't flying at all, we were falling! But that was not the only thing I was worried about. There was a gargantuan sized, six-eyed, moldy blue dragon chasing us!_

_I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out, not even a tiny squeak._

_"Hold Toothless," he whispered. The giant beast opened it's big jaws to reveal a set of teeth sharper than the sharpest spear ever created, a hint of green gas building up in it's throat, "Now!"_

_Toothless flipped over so that we were falling backwards, and loose a fire ball right into the giant dragon's mouth, igniting the flammable gas down it's throat. The dragon's wings were ripping apart, it tried to flap them to slow down the fall but the wings were useless now. Toothless turned around, and glided out of the way right through one of the holes on the dragon's wing. With a last roar, it crashed into the ground, creating a giant, fiery explosion._

_Well that's one problem solved, only one more to go: SURVIVE! We flew upwards away from the flames, dodging the spikes running along the giant dragon's back, freedom awaiting us. I thought that we could make it, all our problems would be over. But to my horror, the tail fin snapped off! We were so close!_

_"No, no!" Hiccup completely lost control and we all slammed right into the giant dragon's tail, knocking Hiccup right off of Toothless and falling towards the explosion!_

_"Hiccup!" I cried desperately._

_As if sensing my distress, Toothless dove after him and into the fire. At first, it was nothing but blazing hot flames, my skin was screaming at the touch. It felt like being inside a volcano all covered in magma! After what seemed like an eternity, the fire began to die down, the scorching air began to feel cool. I suddenly felt like I was being lifted off of Toothless' back and just floating in mid-air. The fire completely vanished before my eyes, showing nothing but darkness._

_This can't be happening, this can't be happening. This can't happen, I can't let this happen! I felt myself beginning to descend towards the dark void of nothingness, the dark color of black eating me alive. I felt something solid under my feet, putting me in a standing position, yet there was nothing visible under me. Slowly, I took a step forward, trying to make sure that the "ground" was still there. I walked forward, not really caring where but I just did, as if something was waiting for me. _

_After a long while of seeing nothing, I could se a shape of some sort, a human shape to be exact. It seemed to be lying down. I wanted to get a closer look, the closer I walked, the more details I could see. The human was as white as a ghost, not breathing at all. It's, no, his lips were a more darker blue than a blueberry. A man. He looked oddly familiar, as if I've seen him somewhere before, but where?_

_I cocked my head to the left a little, trying to remember where I've seen him before. I walked closer to see that he had shaggy, brownish-red hair covering his face and eyes that will never open. I knelt beside him, trying not to cringe at the crimson red pool under him. Blood. Millions of burn marks and scars everywhere but his face._

_Should I, or shouldn't I? I thought to myself, deciding when ether see who it was or just let him be. I really wanted to know who he was, but... wait, wait a minute. I saw that the man in front of me was wearing a green tunic, and some sort of strange clothing on him, but what I noticed was the tunic's familiar shade of green. Almost as if it was... no. No, no, no! Please don't be who I think it is! No!_

_My breath caught in my throat, I trembled in fear as I shakily parted his bangs away from his freckled face! I gasped in complete horror, my hands flying to my mouth in shock. The familiar dead corpse in front of me was my best friend!_

_"No. No, no, no, no no no! Hiccup! Please, don't leave me, not now! Please! Please! Oh gods, no!" I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Please come back! Come back!"_

_"Scarlet, wake up!"_

_I didn't listen to whoever was speaking, all I cared about was my best friend. How could I have let this happen? Why him?_

_"Wake up!"_

* * *

My eyes suddenly snapped open, I was back at the forge.

"Scarlet, are you alright? What happened?"

I couldn't speak, not a word. I was completely traumatized by that horrible nightmare, tears still streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even think. I couldn't tell him what happened, I just couldn't, at least not yet. So I just shook my head no.

"N-nih-no" I managed to cough out, my voice quivering in fear.

I put my hands on my face and turned away, not wanting him to see me like this, weak and vulnerable. A viking isn't weak, nor vulnerable. A viking is strong, valiant, not a crybaby! But that didn't stop me from sobbing no matter what I did. I suddenly flinched as I felt a set of arms wrapped around me in a warm, comforting embrace. I felt a bit relaxed, but still didn't make me stop. I felt the soft fabric of his green tunic, it felt like a pleasant, warm blanket that you would loved to be wrapped around you on a cold, winter night.

"Shh, it's okay," he soothed, "Everything is okay."

_No it's not!_ I screamed in my mind, _It's back!_

* * *

**Soooooo, what do you think? Once again, I'm very sorry for the long wait. I hope this makes up for it.**

**And Review!**


	8. The Next Day

**Aaaaaaaah! I can't believe it took me this long to update AGAIN! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I'M SO SORRY!**

**Disclaimer: I really want to.**

* * *

I could not sleep that night, I couldn't even close my eyes, afraid that the horrifying nightmare might come back. Nothing helped, not even Mr. Fluff (again, don't laugh). You might think that me being fourteen years old wouldn't be scared of a nightmare, but to tell you the truth... this wasn't the first time.

That day after I first met Hiccup, I had a nightmare. I thought that it would never come back the day after, but when I least expected it, it happened again. Then it happened again the day after that. After a few years, they stopped. Those other nightmares were scary, yes, but none of them were as nearly as horrifying as this one. Th-that huge, terrifying, blue dragon, no, MONSTER had shown up in each and every one of those nightmares.

I had stayed awake all night, clutching my stuffed rabbit close to me, just staring out my window.

And now, here I am, at the Mess Hall with half of my face covered in warm porridge after unsuccessfully trying to remain awake during breakfast. I wish they could just skip training today. I could hear the group entering giggling and snickering on the table beside mine.

"Hey Red, you're supposed to eat your breakfast not wear it." taunted Ruffnut, making the others laugh at my misfortune.

"Wow, silly me. Thanks for the tip." I said, I always get grumpy from lack of sleep.

"Yeesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." said Snotlout. More like didn't sleep at all and got up on the wrong side of the bed.

I just wiped off the porridge on my face and let my head drop on the table, wishing that the day would be over soon. And maybe get some sleep around here.

"Morning," I heard the voice of Hiccup say.

"Hmhnih." I mumbled, not even bothering to look up.

"Scarlet, you okay there? You don't sound too good."

"I'm finh." I said, I was so tired I couldn't even have a normal conversation with my best friend.

"What?"

"I'm fine." I said a bit louder.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm fine!" I snapped. I immediately regretted it when I saw the hurt look on his face. He was just trying to help, "Look, I'm sorry okay? I just had a rough night, that's all."

"Somehow, I had a hunch. You know, with what happened last night?"

I couldn't help but blush at the memory, a VERY specific part actually, "S-sort of."

Hiccup opened his mouth to say something but was instantly cut off by the loud voice of Gobber the Belch.

"Listen up everyone! I just wanted to remind you that Dragon Training starts in one hour, so prepare yourselves, because this time it will be twice as hard." he said, smirking and chuckling at the word twice. I don't like that look on his face.

I was too tired to hear whatever he was saying next, though I didn't think it was that important. Okay Scarlet, don't even think of falling asleep. Stay awake, focus, keep your eyes open, you can sleep later.

Even though I tried so hard to stay awake, I am ashamed to admit that I actually fell asleep on the spot. What kind of viking am I?

* * *

_I instantly stopped in my tracks, panting and gasping for breath. I had to hide, somewhere, anywhere! I needed to find shelter and fast, but there was nothing everywhere I looked, nothing. _

_There are those thunderous foot steps again, getting closer than ever. The ground shook with violent force at every step, making it hard for me to keep standing on my own two feet. Not this again._

_**RRROOOAAAAARRR!**_

_Sweat poured from my face, the environment around me was blazing with heat. There was a sudden cold shiver running down my spine, giving me goosebumps. I'm not liking this feeling, not one bit. And I really didn't like the sound of that at all! RUN!_

_I instantly took off, not caring where I was going but it was better than just standing there right? I ran as fast as my legs allowed me to, gripping my sword tighter, even though I had no idea from where it came from. "Wh-whoever you are, d-don't come any closer! I have a sword, and I'm a bit afraid to use it!" Well, that sounded lame._

_**RRRAAAARRR!**_

* * *

"Scarlet? Scarlet, wake up." I felt a light shaking on my shoulder, making me instantly wake up.

"Mhhm? What just happened?" I opened my eyes to see Hiccup standing right next to me.

"You fell asleep."

"I did? For how long?"

"About half an hour or so." he said. _Say what?!_

"THAT long? Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked. _HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? WHAT KIND OF FRIEND DOESN'T WAKE YOU UP WHEN YOU FALL ASLEEP ON A RANDOM PLACE?_

"I-I, well, you looked like y-you needed it and I didn't want to bother you so..." he shrunk back a bit at every word, I really shouldn't have yelled at him like that.

"It's okay," I said calmly, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. So, what did I miss?"

"Nothing much, normal stuff." he said.

"Hey, what about the..." I looked around to make sure that no one was listening, thankfully they were just minding their own business, "...the tail fin?"

"Oh, that? I finished it last night, do you wanna see it?" he asked.

"Heck, yeah!" I said, I really wanted to see how it turned out, "Let's go!"

Without a second thought, I grabbed Hiccup's arm and practically dragged him out of the hall. I had no idea how it happened but I suddenly felt a boost of energy build up inside me as I ran, maybe I was excited about helping our new dragon friend fly to freedom again. But then again, if it works and Toothless flies again, back to his freedom, will it ever come back or will we become enemies again? Why do I always have to look at both sides of the coin? It's so like me.

Aw, who cares? Toothless will be happy again, right? And maybe even find a mate, and live happily ever after... while we on the other hand, are still fighting dragons and things will probably go back to normal. STOP THINKING LIKE THAT! Maybe Toothless will come visit, yeah. The dragon seems nice enough, maybe it will, and we can be friends, and maybe someday convince the village that a human and a dragon being allies isn't such a bad thing.

Yep, I'm so tired that I'm thinking like a softy. Wake up and smell the flowers Scarlet, like that's ever gonna happen. _We_ are vikings, _we_ are stubborn, _we_ fight dragons, not make friends with them! Toughen up, look at it, it's helpless now. But, maybe helping Toothless won't be such a bad thing. I mean, it's not like anyone will notice, right? _Right?_

"Ah! Scarlet, can you please slow down? I can't run this fast you know!" said Hiccup. Whoops, I can't believe I forgot about him.

I suddenly screeched to a stop. I felt tired again, more than this morning. "Sorry."

He panted, trying to catch is breath, "W-wow, didn't know you were a r-runner."

"Well, what can I say? When you spend seven years running from dragons you improve on increasing your speed." I said.

"True." he said.

"Come on! I wanna see the tail fin!"

"Okay, fine. Just don't drag me around like a rag doll again." he said.

I couldn't help but giggle at that, I did do that didn't I? "It won't happen again, I promise."

"Good, now can we please just walk to the forge? I want to save all the running for training."

"Yeah, I should too." I said.

"Uh, Scarlet?"

"What?" I asked.

"Can you please let go of my arm?" he asked.

Oops. I didn't even remember to let go of him, but I felt like I actually didn't want to, as if it felt wrong in some strange way. Why? _Just let go already! _I immediately let go of him, suddenly feeling a bit different._ Eh, it's probably nothing. I'm probably just imagining things, yeah, that's it. _"Can we go now?"

"Oh! Uh, sure, okay." he said. But there was something odd about the way he said it, almost like he was thinking about something. After that, he turned away his gaze from me, looking at the clouds, and rubbing the back of his neck in that cute awkward way of his. _Hahuh? Where did that come from? I must really be tired._

We walked the rest of the way to the forge, passing by some viking kids some years younger than us playing a little morning game of hide-n-seek. I always enjoyed playing that game when we were little, I could not seem to find him anywhere, and when I had finally given up, he always popped out of the places I least expected and nearly scared the wits out of me. But it was still fun to play, I really missed those times when we were little, well, littl_er_. But when he first started working as a Blacksmith, we rarely played anymore. Plus, we grew up and left all that childish behavior behind. I still miss them though. Oh, well. We all have to grow up sometime, don't we?

"Are we there yet?" I asked. I knew the way to the blacksmith's shop, I just like to tease him. "At this pace we'll be there in 10 hours."

"We're almost there." he said.

After walking a few more blocks, I couldn't help but ask: "Are we there yet?" again, trying to erase the smirk on my face.

"Almost."

"Are we there now?" I asked once more.

"Just a few more steps." he said, though he was beginning to sound a tiny bit annoyed.

"Okay.

...

Sssooo... are we there now?"

"Scarlet!"

"Hey, calm down. I was just teasing." I said. I always love to mess around with him, it's fun.

"Very funny." he said sarcastically.

We finally managed to get to the forge, of course it was empty since Gobber is probably preparing the ring for our next lesson. _I can't wait to see how it turned out!_

Hiccup entered into the back room, shortly coming back out with with the prosthetic fin. It looked like the actual thing, only in a more dark brown color. "So, what do you think?"

"Wow, it looks amazing! But, will it work?" I asked.

"Only one way to find out. I'm gonna need a lot of raw fish." he said, putting down the fin on the table and grabbing a large basket.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, just the though about raw fish made my stomach feel sick. "Ugh, more fish?"

"Trust me, I don't like the idea either." He slung the basket over his shoulder, accidentally knocking an ink well on his work table, making it tip over and spill some black liquid on the fin. "Oh, gods no! No, no, no!" He cried, quickly putting away the ink well.

_Uh-oh. This is not good._

"Perfect, just perfect! My greatest chance of helping Toothless is now ruined!" he said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "And I don't have much time to make another one."

_Great, now what?_ I glared at the ink stain, it just had to be ruined. All his hard work rui- wait, maybe not. That's not a stain, that's a...a start for a work of art, yeah, that's it! A start for a work of art! That's not such a bad idea. Maybe this could work. "You know? It doesn't look bad at all."

"What are you talking about? Look at it!" he said. Jeez, he must have really worked hard on it.

"I know, but I know a way to make it even better." I said, pulling out a paint brush out of my left boot.

"Why do you keep a paint brush in your boot?" he asked.

"What? You'll never know when you'll need one." I said. What? It's true.

I dipped the brush on the ink and started my soon to be masterpiece. Now let's see, maybe some lines over here... maybe some wings... now for the tail... PERFECT! It's done.

I presented the image to him, it was actually a Night Fury in flight. It's wings completely stretched out, both tail fins on it's tail. "Ta da! Is it that bad now?"

"You know? You never seace to amaze me." he said, a broad smile on his face.

"R-really?" I asked, he really thinks I'm amazing?

"Uhh, w-with your art, I mean." he added.

_Oh, that._ I didn't know why, but I felt a bit disappointed, as if I was expecting something more. Weird. "Thanks. So are we gonna give this to Toothless or what?"

"Oh, right. Let's go."

* * *

"YECH! How can Toothless eat that stuff without cooking it? That's disgusting!" I said. I could still smell that foul stench even when the basket was closed. "Why does your dad keep THAT many in his house?"

"Trust me, I don't know why either. But it's actually a good thing, 'cause I bet Toothless will love it. We wouldn't want him to starve to death now would we?" he asked.

"Drat, I hate it when you actually make good points." I said, then I pointed to the artificial fin in his arms. "You sure you don't want me to hold that for you?" He kind of looked like he was struggling to keep a firm grip on it.

"Nah, I'm perfectly fine. See? Got it all under contro-WHAH!" he suddenly tripped on a rock and fell face-first onto the ground. "Ow."

"So, you still got it all under control, do you?" I kneeled in front of him and held out my hand, "Need a hand?"**  
**

He gladly took it and I pulled him up. I cautiously grabbed the fin from his arms and resumed walking. I suddenly noticing the lack of a certain pair of footsteps, I looked back to see Hiccup staring at me, almost dazed. "Hey, aren't you coming?"

He suddenly snapped out of his own little world and back to reality, shaking his head, he responded. "O-oh yeah, right! I'm coming. Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"That's okay, that sometimes happens to me." _Weird, I've never seen him with that look on his face before._

We finally arrived at the cove, passing through the crack in the wall. We spotted the dragon curled up on the ground, still sleeping peacefully.

"Hey Toothless," sang Hiccup, awakening the Night Fury, "I brought breakfast, I hope you're hungry." He dropped the basket in front of the dragon, tipping it over with his foot, the raw fish piled down making a little mountain. The dragon growled, apparently interested. "Okay, that's disgusting," muttered Hiccup, "We've got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel."

Toothless poked the fish with it's nose, probably deciding which one to eat first. But at the mention of the word 'eel' it backed up a bit, growling. Curious, Hiccup picked up the black and yellow striped eel by the tail. This caused the dragon to roar at it, it looked almost both repulsed and frightened.

"No, no, no, no, no! Calm down," he said, throwing away the eel as far away from Toothless as possible. This seemed to calm it down a bit, hmm. "Yeah, I don't like eel much either."

Toothless, seeing that there were no more eels to be found, began eating the fish. I handed the prosthetic to Hiccup, who was now slowly moving to it's tail. "That's it," he whispered, "just stick with the good stuff. Now, don't you mind me, I'll just be back here, minding my own business."

_Please don't notice him, please don't notice him, please don't notice him. _I watched the dragon, making sure to alarm Hiccup if anything happens. I yawned a bit, still a bit tired but fought to keep my eyes open. I heard struggling, I looked back to see Hiccup trying to force Toothless's tail to stay still. I giggled a bit, it was funny to watch. He yelped when Toothless lurched forward, searching for more fish inside the basket. I tried not to laugh, which was a challenge to do since I really couldn't help it. Hiccup sat on it's tail and quickly strapped on the prosthetic.

I heard a light thump. I looked to see Toothless having a blank look on it's face. It wiggled it's tail a bit, along with it's right fin. A surprised growl escaped it's scaly lips, it's wings suddenly drooped. It crouched down, slowly extending it's wings. _Oh-no, this is not good._

"Hiccup?" He didn't seem to hear me at first, "Hiccup!" again he didn't hear me. _What is he, deaf or something?_ "HICCUP!"

"What? What is- WHOAH!" _Too late._ Toothless launched up in the air, Hiccup hanging onto it's tail for his dear life and screaming. "WHOAAAAH! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOO!"

_Oh, my gods! What do I do? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO? _"HICCUP! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T LET GO!" I said.

"TRUST ME, I ALREADY HAVE THAT COVEREEEEED!" he shouted.

Toothless suddenly began to lose altitude, falling towards the ground both to our horror. _Oh, Odin help us! Please!_

There was the sudden noise of something flapping open, at that same moment, Toothless flew back upward and to the sky. Hiccup had opened the tail fin at the last minute. _It's working, it's actually working! Yes! Yes, yes, YES! WE DID IT!_

I heard Hiccup yelling something but I couldn't quite make out what it was, but he sounded happy. They made a turn, flying back to the cove and over the lake. _Wow, a Night Fury's wingspan is a lot bigger than I thought._

"Yes, yes! Look, Scarlet! We did it!" shouted Hiccup.

All of a sudden, Toothless made a sharp turn, flinging Hiccup off of it's tail and into the lake. Toothless shrieked, the prosthetic fin becoming limp now that Hiccup was no longer holding it open. It crashed into the lake, eventually resurfacing, shaking the water off of it's head.

"Yeah!" cheered Hiccup after he too had resurfaced.

"Hiccup, you okay?" I asked.

He nodded, swimming back to shore. "Yeah, I'm fine. A little help?"

I took his hand, ready to pull him up. I could see a mischievous smile forming on his face, before I could react, he pulled me into the cold water. _Gah! Cold, cold! _I shivered, I was soaked from head to toe. "HICCUP! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

He didn't answer, he was too busy laughing his lungs out. "Oh, so you think that's funny, eh?" I said. I splashed water on his face, instantly stopping his laughter, which turned into spluttering noises.

"Hey!" he complained, splashing cold water on me.

I splashed him back. "Oh, it's on now!"

And soon, the splashing war began. We chased each other around the lake, two best friends playing a good old fashioned game of splash war. Ah, good times. We splashed each other, splashed like there was no tomorrow. I didn't even care when the water went up my nose, I was having too much fun. "Give up yet?"

"Nope!" he said, sending a big wave of water at me. Holding my breath, I dove just in time, swimming right towards him. I grabbed his right leg and pulled him down. His eyes widened, looking surprised at what I had done. I couldn't take it anymore. I swam back to the surface and started to laugh. _Scarlet, best trick ever! You've really outdone yourself!_

Hiccup came back up next, spluttering and coughing up water. "Why did you do that?"

"'Cause you pulled me in first! And I couldn't resist." I said, wringing out the water from my ponytail. _Well, that was fun. _"Hey, Hiccup? What time is it?" I looked at the sun (not directly, I'm not stupid) it should be around seven o'clock or so.

"Oh, gods. We have to hurry back, Dragon Training starts in a few minutes!" he said. Well it was nice while it lasted.

I took a look at Toothless, who was now curled up, resting on the ground. Only one eye remained open, watching our every move, probably on the look out if we try to do anything suspicious, which we won't. "We'll be back soon bud. We promise." said Hiccup.

The dragon closed it's eye, taking a well deserved nap.

* * *

"Today is about: Teamwork!" bellowed Gobber the Belch.

The cage holding the Zippleback suddenly burst open, releasing strange green smoke made by the explosion the two-headded dragon had caused. I tightened my grip on the wooden bucket full of water, my knuckles practically turning white. I gulped. Here goes nothing.

"Now, a wet dragon head can't light it's fire; the Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breaths gas, the other head lights it. Your job, is to know which is which."

The smoke surrounded the arena, dividing us into three teams. Hiccup with Fishlegs, Snotlout with Tuffnut, and Astrid, Ruffnut and me. _Oh, so that's what he meant by twice as hard. Sneaky old Gobber with his tricks. Grr._

"Razor-sharp serrated teeth," said Fishlegs, he sounded a bit nervous. "that inject venom for pre-digestion. Preffers ambush attacks, crushing it's victims..."

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP THAT?" hissed Hiccup, by that tone of voice I could tell he was annoyed. Instantly, the larger boy shut up. _Thank you, Hiccup._

I kept a sharp eye out for any sign of the dragon, so far none, good. Nothing but smoke everywhere we looked, it was very creepy. We kept quiet, being careful to not make any kind of sound at all. _Okay, breath in, breath out. You can do this, just focus. Stay calm, remember, you are a viking, vikings don't panic. The sooner we get done with this, the sooner you can leave Scarlet. Just relax, and everything will be just fi-_

"THERE!"

SPLASH!

I felt something cold touch my back, making me yelp a bit. "What he he-!"

"Hey! It's us, idiots!" said Ruffnut. Snotlout and Tuffnut had thrown their buckets of water at us! They're such numb-skulls!

"Your butts are getting bigger, we thought you were a dragon." commented the male twin with a snicker. _SAY WHAT?_

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque figure." said Snotlout. As soon as the words left his mouth, Astrid walked up to him and punched his jaw. Ruffnut just threw her bucket at her brother, making him fall to the ground. _HA!_

But something surprising came next, Tuffnut got pulled into the fog, leaving only his helmet behind. The only thing we heard was the Zippleback's growling and Tuffnut's screaming. Ruffnut took a step forward, ready to help him. Even though they fight a lot, I'm surprised that they would still help each other out.

"Wait." warned Astrid, blocking her from her path. I felt like something was about to happen.

_Jump._ I instantly jumped into the air, a dark green tail swooshing under me. That voice didn't sound like mine, it sounded like a mother caring for her child and as soothing as the sound of a harp. As fast as it happened I landed back down, the dragon's tail tripping Astrid and Ruff into the ground. Tuffnut came running back out, a look of panic on his face. "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now." said Fishlegs.

A Zippleback's snaked out of the smoke, growling, it moved forward towards Fishlegs. _Oh, that thing's Hideous alright._

The large boy threw the bucket of water on it's face, but when it opened it's mouth, it revealed toxic green gas. "Oh, wrong head."

The head exhaled it's flammable gas at him, making him drop the bucket and run away screaming. "FISHLEGS!" cried Gobber. But the boy was already gone along with the green smoke that no longer surrounded us.

_Okay, if that's the gas head, then sparky head must be... _Before I could finish the thought, the other head suddenly appeared next to me. I almost dropped my bucket in surprise, ALMOST. The head with the spark grinned at me, almost maliciously. It's yellow feline-like eyes stared right at my scarlet ones. I felt a bit woozy, not nauseous, just a bit dizzy. Everything around me faded, I could no longer hear anyone's voice, Gobber's screaming faded away. I dropped my bucket but I didn't hear the thump. There was something about dragons that you should never do, but what was it?

_Relax little female human, everything will be just fine. You will no longer have to worry about anything at all. _That voice, it didn't sound like the other one. This one sounded like a man, like the sound of a snake's hissing and undeniably malevolent. Who's talking to me? _You will be at peace where you are going to be, trust me. It will only take a seco- AAAGGHHH!_

I snapped back into reality when the voice started screaming. After doing so, the scream was replaced by a dragon's screech... it sounded almost terrified, but why?

"Back! Back, back!" I heard Hiccup's voice say. What I saw next was unbelievable! The Zippleback was backing away, FROM HICCUP! How is that even possible? "Now don't you make me tell you again! Yes, that's right, back into your cage. Now think about what you've done." With that last statement, he closed the large metal doors, the dragon still screeching.

We all just stared at him, my eyes were wide in shock, my mouth dropped open. No one said a word, the only sound that was heard was the thump of a bucket on the ground. _Did he... he can't jus... he couldn't ha... but he... HUH?!_

"Okay, so, are we done? 'Cause I've got a few things I need to, uh... Yep! S-see ya tomorrow!" he said, running to the exit as fast as he could.

Still, no one said a word.

* * *

**Well, that took longer to write than I thought it would. Once again, I am so sorry for the late update, I really am.**


	9. ANNOUNCEMENT

**Okay, I know you guys don't really like author notes and stuff related to things like this but guys, this writers block is eating me alive so for the time being here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna keep writing this story BUT I'm going to have to do some of scenes like they show it in the movie. So no additional things for this chapter unfortunately.**

**And now for the good news! To make up for this, I'm gonna be writing some drabbles _after_ I'm finished about Hiccup and Scarlet's lives before, during and after the movie. So this basically means that the things I'm NOT going to be able to write for some chapters will end up there for those who want to read them. If you're wondering, I also take requests so send me your ideas and I'll work something out. You will laugh, you will be sad, and maybe laugh some more!**

**One more thing; you're probably wondering about what the heck is going on with Scarlet in this story. Patience fellow readers, it will all be revealed in due time. But let me tell you some things that I need to make clear.  
**

**1) She's NOT half-dragon! (yes, I know some people who are reading this story are thinking it, you haven't said it but maybe are thinking it.)**

**2) The voice in the library wasn't a ghost, and it wasn't a dragon!**

**3) Her nightmares/visions are key elements for future chapters.**

**4) The reason why Astrid doesn't like Scarlet as much isn't because of Hiccup (although she's not okay with her hanging out with him either).**

**5) Hiccup isn't falling for Scarlet just yet.**

**Okay, I don't think I need to say anything more except that this author's note will be deleted by the time the new chapter comes up so stay alert! Okay, that's all for now. 'Till the next chapter! :D**


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